oordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution said Indonesian exports to China were likely to drop this year, because China’s economic growth projection for this year was only 6.2 percent, compared to growth of 6.6 percent in 2018.
He said the economic slowdown in China would affect the global economy, including Indonesia, because the Chinese market accounted for 15 to 20 percent of Indonesia’s total exports.
The minister also expects lower exports to the United States.
“Our export to China will decline, and those to the US will also decline. That is why we have to find new markets,” Darmin said in Jakarta on Tuesday as quoted by kompas.com, adding that, however, finding new markets would take time.
Darmin also pointed to an expected global economic slowdown this year, as indicated by the IMF’s growth projection of 3.5 percent, which was brought down from the earlier expectation of 3.7 percent. However, the IMF has not revised its projection for US economic growth for this year, which remains at 2.5 percent.
The minister stressed that the trade war between China and the US as well as the government shutdown in the US would affect the global economy this year.
“The trade war could stop suddenly, but as long as it lasts, it has an impact on the whole world, because the countries [involved in the spat] are the two largest economies,” he added. (bbn)
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