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The government is hopeful about the prospects for Indonesia’s economy in 2012, but it is taking precautionary steps in case the global slowdown threatens growth, Vice President Boediono said on Wednesday.

“I’m optimistic but we have to be prepared,” Boediono said in a meeting with media editors.

He said the global situation in 2012 was “not as friendly” as in 2011 and that the world’s powerhouses were beginning to see their economies slow.

Indonesia’s central bank cut the country’s economic growth forecast to 6.3 percent this year from its original forecast of 6.7 percent. Indonesia’s $706 billion economy, which expanded by 6.1 percent in 2010, may have grown last year by 6.5 percent, the fastest pace since 1996, before the onset of the Asian financial crisis.

The government, the vice president said, has taken anticipatory measures so it can protect the economy if the global slowdown gets worse.

In particular, he said the government has formed three task forces: for macro monetary and financial affairs; for the productive “real” economy; and for social protection. “These task forces are preparing for what we can anticipate, learning from 2008,” he said.

Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo, who will lead the task force on macro monetary and financial affairs, plans to work closely with the central bank to ensure that the proper policies and regulations are in place to support the economy.

The second task force for the real sector, led by Hatta Rajasa, the coordinating minister for economic affairs, will continue to take an inventory of the presence and degree of bottleneck areas as it tries to solve them.

“It will look for the bottlenecks and for the breakthroughs needed to ensure a smooth flow of the economy,” Boediono said.

The third task force, headed by the coordinating minister for people’s welfare, Agung Laksono, will identify the societal groups that are usually most prone to the effects of any slowdown in the economy. Boediono said these groups “would need to be given more assistance than others.”

In addition to the task forces, Hatta said the government is trying to improve the country’s resilience to global conditions by working “all out” to assure food security through ample stocks and stable, affordable prices.

Speaking at the same meeting with media editors, he said the government is focusing not only on rice, the nation’s staple food, but also on sugar, corn and meat.

He said Indonesia is currently self-sufficient in rice production, with imports only undertaken as precautions in times of seasonal shortages.

This year, he added, the government is targeting a 5 percent rice production surplus.