"The moderately sufficient increase in private consumption is projected to continue."Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia's private consumption rose to 5.3 percent in the first quarter of 2019 from 5.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018, according to the World Bank.
"The moderately sufficient increase in the private consumption is projected to continue," World Bank chief economist for Indonesia, Frederico Gil Sander, said during the launch of the June 2019 edition of the Indonesia Economic Quarterly in Jakarta on Monday.
Sander said the growth was fueled by a fairly significant rise in the consumption budget of political parties, which grew 16.3 percent in the first quarter compared to 10.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018.
However, household consumption slowed down to 5.0 percent from 5.1 percent due to the declining consumption in the service sector, including transportation, communication, restaurants and hotels, he said.
Of the household consumption, food and beverage consumption contributed the most to the growth of the private consumption, he said.
Meanwhile, consumption in the health and education sector rose at its fastest pace.
Sander further said the growth of retail sales, which almost doubled to 8.8 percent in the first quarter of 2019, also served as a monthly indicator of strong private consumption.
The sale of motorcycles also rose significantly to 16.1 percent in the first quarter of 2019 from 7.6 percent in the previous quarter.
However, Indonesian consumer confidence, which remained flat in the first quarter of 2019 showed signs of increasing in April and May. This could be seen from the increase in private consumption, which continued in the second quarter, he said. EDITED BY INE
Translator: Katriana/Suharto
Editor: Eliswan Azly
Copyright © ANTARA 2019
