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Global Financial Storm May Yet Strike Indonesia: IMF
Dion Bisara & Shirley Christie | September 21, 2011

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The International Monetary Fund has forecast that Indonesia will fail to meet its growth target this year, suggesting the nation may yet be ensnared in the economic woes that have afflicted much of the world.

In the World Economic Outlook report released late on Tuesday, the IMF predicted Indonesia’s economy would grow 6.4 percent this year and 6.3 percent next year, lower than the government estimate of 6.5 percent for 2011 and 6.7 percent for 2012.

The downward shift for Indonesia was part of a lowering of growth expectations across the world.

Rupa Duttagupta, the deputy head of the IMF’s world economic studies division, said that while Indonesia’s economy was supported by strong domestic demand, the country would not necessarily be spared from “potential negative spillovers from the external side,” referring to the deteriorating global economy, which may sap demand for exports.

The fund slashed its forecast for the world’s economic growth for this year and next to 4 percent and warned of “severe” consequences if Europe failed to solve its debt crisis or the US faced a new deadlock over spending.

The IMF earlier penciled a global growth rate of 4.3 percent this year and a 4.5 percent for 2012.

“Indonesia, like other emerging market countries, is facing tensions,” Rupa said.

The IMF also predicted that Indonesia would not achieve a growth rate of 7 percent until 2016, two years later than the target set by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The lender recommended key policy reforms to support economic growth, such as public spending to match that laid out in the budget, reducing energy subsidies through gradual price increases and the development of infrastructure.

Coordinating Minister for the Economy Hatta Rajasa, however, remained confident of the nation’s growth prospects despite the IMF’s report, saying the government was sure of meeting its own targets.

“Many have made similar estimates [of lower than expected growth], but many times they were proven wrong,” he said.

Despite the government’s bravado, last week it announced it had prepared a stimulus package ready to be introduced during the early months of next year if the global storm hit local shores.

Also last week, the Asian Development Bank raised its economic growth forecast for Indonesia, even as the Manila-based lender cut its growth forecasts for other economies in the region.

The ADB said it expected Indonesia’s $700 billion economy to expand 6.6 percent this year, more than the 6.4 percent growth it forecast in April. It also raised its economic growth target for 2012 to 6.8 percent from 6.7 percent.