Indonesia GDP ’still 5.4 pct’ for 2018 despite lower IMF forecast: finance minister

Photo: Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Indonesia's Minister of Finance, receives the Best Minister Award from Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, Prime Minister and Vice-President of the United Arab Emirates, and ruler of Dubai, during the World Government Summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates February 11, 2018. REUTERS/Christopher Pike

DUBAI – Indonesia’s government will rely more on private sector investment to boost the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth this year that will remain at the projected 5.4 percent despite the lower forecast by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last week, Sri Mulyani Indrawati, its finance minister told Salaam Gateway.

“The growth rate for 2018 is still 5.4 percent. We still see that the momentum of growth coming from investment[s] and export[s] will add to what is the existing consumption growth,” said Indrawati.

The IMF projected Indonesia’s 2018 GDP growth at 5.3 percent in a report released on February 6. It expects annual growth to gradually rise to about 5.6 percent over the medium term.