Jakarta’s economy has sustained stable growth in this year’s first quarter, thanks to low inflation, decreasing unemployment, higher human development and new payment systems introduced by financial technology (fintech) firms.

The city booked year-on-year (yoy) growth of 6.23 percent, slightly down from 6.41 percent in the final quarter of last year but higher than the national figure of 5.28 percent, according to the Jakarta chapter of Bank Indonesia (BI DKI).

The relatively stable growth rate was underpinned by household spending, which grew 5.85 percent yoy.

BI DKI also noted the economic effect of recent political events, with large spending on campaign equipment and political consultancy services in the run-up to the general election.

High demand of trucks from mining and plantation companies from across the country also fueled economic activity in the capital.

By contrast, investment growth slowed to just 0.23 percent. According to BI DKI chief Hamid Ponco Wibowo, this was expected, as some major projects, such as the first phases of the MRT Jakarta and LRT Jakarta projects, had been completed.

Inflation rose to 3.49 percent in the first quarter of 2019 from 3.01 percent in the preceding quarter, staying well below the 5.5 percent rate set by the central bank as the upper limit of its inflation target range.

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