Nearly half of the Indonesians questioned about the nation’s economy believe things are looking good, according to a survey released this month.

Indonesia’s optimism bucked global trends as economic sentiment dropped to 36 percent, the lowest point since the 2008/2009 economic crash, according to a survey conducted by French marketing research firm Ipsos.

Forty-six percent of those surveyed assessed Indonesia’s current economic situation as “good,” a six percentage point rise over last year’s results, the report read. It was the second largest improvement recorded this year.

Indonesia’s economy grew by 6.5 percent last year, the fastest rate since 1996, on the back of a robust domestic market, large development projects and a healthy investor appetite. But more than half of those surveyed still described the currently economy as bad and said it was going to get worse. Fifty-four respondents from a wide-range of socioeconomic backgrounds told Ipsos they thought the economy was heading downhill.

Optimistic responses skewed toward business owners, senior executives and other top-level businessmen, the report read. Thirty-four percent of businessmen questioned predicted the economy would improve in the next six months.

Fifty-five percent of those surveyed said they expect the economy to remain the same. Thirty-six percent of all those surveyed expected it to improve.

Ipsos polled some 18,500 people in 24 countries on the state of their domestic economies. Nearly every geographic region expressed concern and doubt about the economy.

Citizens of Saudi Arabia topped the list, with 79 percent of those surveyed indicating that their economy looked good. Sweden, Canada, China and Australia rounded out the top five.

Spain, Hungary, Italy, France and Japan scored lowest.

Source : TheJakartaGlobe.com