Economic growth in the second quarter of 2018 was just under 5.2%

KONTAN.CO.ID – JAKARTA. The Bank of Indonesia (BI) revised Indonesia's economic growth forecast for the second quarter of 2018. Initially, BI predicted that the Indonesian economy could grow by 5.2 % this year, but now BI estimates that Indonesia's economic growth is slightly less than 5.2%.

"We still count, then slightly lower than 5.2%," Perry said at a meeting at the BI Complex on Friday (13/7).

Despite this, BI sees economic growth in the second quarter of 2018 will be greater than economic growth in the first quarter of 2018 which is only 5.06%.

According to Perry, the higher economic growth in the second quarter of 2018 is also reflected in a number of surveys published by the central bank. The second quarter Business Survey (SKDU) published by BI on Thursday (12/7), for example, shows that the second quarter's economic activity is improving.

This is because SKDU's second quarter of 2018 rose 20.9%, much higher than the first quarter of 2018 which only 8.2%. "This shows that business activity is increasing, especially in the manufacturing industry, in addition to other sectors, reinforcing our confidence in why the second quarter was better than the first quarter," Mr. Perry.

Under SKDU, production capacity in the second quarter was 78%. This number also increased compared to the first quarter by only 76%.

In addition, the Retail Sales Survey (FTE), a day earlier, also saw retail sales growth in May of 8.2%, up from 4.1% in May. % in April. In June, Perry estimates that retail sales will also increase.

"This shows that our economic activity, be it consumption, production, or investment, is increasing," said Mr. Perry.

ECONOMIC GROWTH