Able Indonesia

A World Bank (WB) senior economist said here on Monday that Indonesia will prevail to deal with the ongoing global economy uncertainty incited by economic woes in Europe and the United States, on the back of strong domestic demands, stable economic growth and increasing investments.

“Amid the increasing uncertainty in global market at the moment, Indonesia must be able to control its already-good economic resilience,” Ndiam Diop, WB senior economist tasked as WB advisor for Indonesia, said here in a session to discuss Indonesia’s economy in third quarter period.

He said that so far Indonesia has gained excellent economic parameters that highly supports its resilience in dealing with the ongoing economic crisis.

Citing the 6.4 percent year-on-year growth that Indonesia has attained in the second quarter this year, he said Indonesia has scored remarkable growth level amid economic slowdown experienced by most economies across the world.

The strong domestic demands and increasing investment have added to the country’s economy potentialities that would surely help the country to survive amid economy uncertainties occurring in the country’s main export destination countries.

Indonesia received investment grade rating from two international agencies earlier this year for its economy’s soundness and proved resilience to deal with the crisis.

In terms of exports, Diop said that Indonesia may face challenges from possible export value reduction due to its significant dependence on imported raw materials.

The WB economist added that Indonesia should make policies aimed at anticipating the flooding in of investors following the crisis that occur in Europe and the United States. Many investors will relocate their investments in Asian countries that relatively less affected by the crisis, he said.

“Indonesia must use investment as its major growth propeller. It can be attained by building new infrastructure, training programs to improve the skill of human resources and strengthening implementation of social safety net,” he said as quoted by the Antara news agency.

Besides the moves to preserve its good economic parameters, Diop said that Indonesian government must also anticipate internal risks, among others inflation and unemployment, which may hinder the country’s efforts to attain higher growth.

Due to the ongoing global economic slowdown, Indonesian government has revised its growth target this year to 6.3 percent from the initial 6.5 percent. WB and International Monetary Fund have also revised their growth estimation for Indonesia to 6 and 6. 1 percent respectively due to the similar reason.

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