"We have good reason to believe it will be 6.5 percent. It will show our quality in 2011," he said here Thursday.
Therefore, he said, he hoped the growth figure for the fourth quarter of 2011 to be announced by the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) soon would be the same as for the previous three quarters, namely 6.5 percent.
After all. he added, in the third quarter of 2011 Indonesia was not yet directly affected by the crisis in Europe.
About growth in 2012, Agus said he hoped it would reach 6.7 percent as assumed in the State Budget due to efforts to improve infrastructure and the bureaucracy.
"As a consequence of the crisis, global growth was lastly corrected to 3.3 percent. We stick to our target of 6.7 percent but we must solve our problems regarding infrastructure, bureaucracy and corruption," he said.
Meanwhile, economist Chatib Basri said the global economic recession had had little impact on Indonesia because its economy was backed up by a vast domestic market that had contributed to an increase in its Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
"If our economic growth in 2012 ranges between 5.5 percent and 6.5 percent and the inflation rate between 4 percent and 5 percent, we will still have a stable economy," Chatib said.
He said the increase in Indonesia`s GDP was due to an expanding middle class which had boosted consumption and initiated new businesses that helped to fuel economic growth. (*)
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
