... it may be difficult to achieve this... which is difficult... "
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian government is keen to boost economic growth to six percent amid the global economic meltdown, said Finance Minister Chatib Basri.

"We had set a 6.3 percent growth target for this year, but it may be difficult to achieve this. To achieve an economic growth of 6.3 percent, we should have a 6.6 percent economic growth next month, which is difficult," added the finance minister on Monday.

The government is planning to boost economic growth by increasing consumption.

"The president calls it a 'keep buying' strategy because consumption is the biggest contributor to gross domestic product (GDP). So, if consumption is high, GDP would be high," Minister Chatib explained.

Currently, GDP is dominated by household consumption, which accounts for 55.44 percent, followed by government expenditure at 8.63 percent, exports at 23.15 percent, and imports at 25.68 percent.

The minister also noted that an increase in the volume of money in circulation during the post-fasting holiday of Lebaran had led to a rise in economic transactions and contributed to household consumption and economic growth.

"The World Bank has predicted that after Idul Fitri, Muslims will spend some Rp110 trillion. Compared to the state budget at Rp1,600 trillion, this means that travellers will spend close to 10 percent of the state budget in one month," he said.

The extension of the thirteenth month salary in June 2013 and the acceleration of budget spending are expected to have an impact on government consumption and the national economy, beginning third quarter of this year.

"Household consumption and government expenditure will boost the economy because investments are expected to reduce, with no guarantee of export growth," Chatib noted.

The Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) has recorded Indonesia`s economic growth in the second quarter of 2013 at 5.81 percent (year-on-year) and accumulative growth in the first semester of this year at 5.92 percent.

The national economy, which grew at 5.81 percent (year-on-year), was supported by household consumption, which grew at 5.06 percent, government consumption at 2.13 percent, gross fixed assets (PMTB) at 4.67 percent, exports at 4.78 percent, and imports at 0.62 percent.

Editor: Ade P Marboen
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