Therefore, I should say honestly that it is difficult for Indonesia to achieve the growth target of 6.3 percent
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the country will find it hard to achieve its target of growing the economy by 6.3 percent for this year due to a change in US economic policies which affects the global economy.

"Frankly speaking, when the government and the DPR (Indonesian House of Representatives) set the economic growth target of 6.3 percent for 2013, no US policy affected the world. Therefore, I should say honestly that it is difficult for Indonesia to achieve the growth target of 6.3 percent," he said here on Wednesday.

But President Yudhoyono expressed hope that domestic economic growth that remained above 6 percent over the past few years would not fall sharply.

"Therefore, we must work very hard. I ask all sides, including the central government, regional governments, and business world, to work as hard as they can to prevent growth from falling significantly," he said.

Further, the President said 2013 has been a difficult year for the economies of Indonesia and other Asian countries.

"Next year, I think our economy will still face challenges that we will not be able to ignore," he said.

He 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 external factor is the US monetary policy, which affects the financial situations in many countries, 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 Indonesian economic growth will fall sharply, while there is no immediate solution to the decline, he said.

But, President Yudhoyono added, the government has worked hard since Independence Day on August 17 to address the problem.

(Reporting by GNC Aryani/S012/INE/KR-BSR/B003)

Editor: Priyambodo RH
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