"As I stated in the draft 2014 state budget on August 16, this year is not an easy year," the President told the press at the Presidential Office here on Wednesday following a limited cabinet meeting on economic affairs.
The global economic situation will still show no signs of improvement next year, the President predicted.
"Next year, I think our economy will still face challenges that we will not be able to ignore," he said.
The head of state noted that the rupiah`s weakening against the dollar and the drop in share prices are among the new challenges facing the domestic economy.
It was noted that these challenges are caused by external and internal factors.
"The first factor is global and regional factor, including the US monetary policy, which affects all developing countries, and emerging markets, including Indonesia," President Yudhoyono said.
The internal factor includes weaker exports caused by the global economic slowdown, while at the same time imports remain high, putting a strain on the balance of trade and payments, he noted.
These have all raised concerns that the Indonesian economic growth will fall sharply, while there is no immediate solution to the decline, he said.
The President said the economic growth could be maintained by encouraging, accelerating and implementing various projects in the country.
"Because our exports decline, we rely on investment. Our immediate target is that we will rely on investment. To rely on exports and imports. We must prevent the rupiah`s exchange rate from falling sharply," he said. (S012/B003)
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
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