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Minister Darmin expects slower growth in Q1
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Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution (JP/Wienda Parwitasari)
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oordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution said in Jakarta on Monday that he did not expect high economic growth in the first quarter after considering that the harvest season would take place in April, instead of March.
“When seen from the agriculture sector, [the growth] may be lower than last year, when the harvest season had already begun in March. This year, it is projected that the peak harvest will be in April,” said Darmin.
“It will be good if the figure stays the same as the first quarter of 2017,” said Darmin.
In the first quarter of 2017, the economy expanded 5.01 percent year-on-year (yoy), while whole-year growth was recorded at 5.07 percent.
Darmin explained that during the first quarter of 2017, the agriculture sector contributed 13.59 percent to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), the second-highest contributor after the manufacturing sector.
Meanwhile, he also recorded slow loan demand, indicating that the economy had not recovered yet.
According to Bank Indonesia, loan growth was recorded at 8 percent yoy in February. The central bank projected loans to grow between 10 and 12 percent this year, from 8.2 percent growth, last year. (bbn)
