The government has been able to manage it so far."
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia need not worry about any possible effects of the Greek economic collapse, Deputy Director of Asian Development Bank (ADB) Indonesia Edimon Ginting said.

However, he believes that the country needs to stay alert as national economic growth is likely to continue to be sluggish.

During a press conference here on Tuesday, Ginting stated that the economic crisis in Greece did not occur overnight but had been developing since 2012. This is how its effects had mostly been anticipated by the government.

"The Greek crisis did not happen just yesterday. More importantly, its effects are not too significant. We need to stay alert but do not need to worry," he remarked.

The ADB also commended how Indonesia had managed to dodge the impacts of the global economic crisis in 2008. This situation had given the country experience in resolving economic crises.

Moreover, Ginting added that Indonesias economic growth is relatively steady at around 5 percent.

"The government has been able to manage it so far," he affirmed.

However, Ginting projected that in the next couple of months, the national economy will feel some minor effects of the Greek economic collapse, one of which will be in the export of commodities.

Even though the value of trade between Indonesia and Greece in 2014 was only US$200 million, it was still significant with regard to agricultural exports.

During the press conference, the ADB Indonesia deputy director also corrected the economic growth projection of Indonesia for 2015 from 5.5 percent to 5.0 percent, stating that the slow materialization of the governments programs, the suspension of economic structural reforms, and the continuing sluggish global economy were the causes.

However, the ADB is confident that the slow economic growth in Indonesia will not last too long, believing that the governments move to increase capital expenditure for infrastructural development to Rp290.3 trillion will restore the growth to 5 percent by the end of the year.
(T.A060/Uu.INE/KR-BSR/A014)

Reporter: Azi Fitriyanti
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2015