Even though our PMI is still solid, it has started to decrease. 
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Industry has informed that Indonesia's manufacturing Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI) rose for the 33rd straight month in May 2024 to reach a level of 52.1.

The figure was higher than the manufacturing PMIs of the United States and China, which were recorded at 50.9 and 51.7, respectively.

"We should be grateful for the national industry players who managed to maintain our PMI performance in the expansion phase until May," the ministry's spokesperson, Febri Hendri Antoni Arif, said on Monday.

Though Indonesia's manufacturing PMI remained in an expansionary mode, there was a slight decline in manufacturing performance in May from 52.9 initially to 52.1, he informed.

According to him, the decline was due to a contraction in production activity due to decreased orders from abroad and concerns about a reduction in domestic orders in the future.

It was also influenced by the issuance of regulations that were not seen as pro-business, such as the Minister of Trade's Regulation Number 8 of 2024 concerning the Third Amendment to the Minister of Trade's Regulation No. 36/2023 concerning Import Policies and Regulations.

"Even though our PMI is still solid, it has started to decrease. We are worried that this decline is partly caused by regulations that are non pro-industrial players, which are considered less friendly to the manufacturing sector," Arif said.

He affirmed that his ministry will continue to make efforts to prevent a further drop in sentiment regarding the regulation and keep the PMI from declining in June.

"We have received inputs from many industrial sector associations who expressed their objections to the implementation of Minister of Trade Regulation 8/2024, and each association has conveyed this to the public," he informed.

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Translator: Ahmad Muzdaffar F, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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