We depend more on domestic demand than on export. Don't mix them. The world is still feeble but don't consider us to be feeble tooJakarta (ANTARA) - Domestic consumption is keeping the Indonesian economy strong despite a global economic slowdown, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Darmin Nasution has said. "We depend more on domestic demand than on export. Don't mix them. The world is still feeble but don't consider us to be feeble too," he said Wednesday.
Given the strong domestic consumption, he was optimistic that the Indonesian economy would grow above five percent in the third quarter of this year.
The Indonesian economy still performed better than the Malaysian and Singapore economies, he said. This is because the contribution of Indonesia's exports and imports to the national gross domestic product (GDP) was not too high compared to those of the two countries.
The global economic slowdown also affected Indonesia since the United States and China, main markets for Indonesia's exports, are currently involved in a trade war, he said.
Related news: Indonesian economy to grow 5.2% in 2019: BI
However, the impact is not too much, he said.
"It does not (affect us) much since the share of imports and exports in our economy is not as high as that of Malaysia or Thailand, so it still can stay at up to five percent," he said.
Indonesia's exports and imports which slowed down in the past six months began to recover two months ago, he said.
"Import is an indicator of the use of raw materials and capital goods since 90 percent of our imports comprise raw materials and capital goods," he said
The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) announced earlier Indonesia's exports in the first eight months of 2019 reached US$110.07 billion, down 8.28 percent compared to the same period last year.
Related news: Indonesia's economic growth pace clocked at 5.05 percent in Q2
Translator: Dewa Ketut Sudiarta Wiguna/Suh
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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