VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Illustration - An aerial photo of the Tanjung Perak Port in Surabaya, East Java. ANTARA/HO-PT Pelindo III (Persero)/sh

Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati stressed on hard work to record zero-percent economic growth in the third quarter of 2020 after the GDP contracted 5.32 percent in the second quarter of the year.

"We are cautious of the heavy struggles that lie ahead to enter the zero-percent zone in the third quarter," Indrawati noted in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Some economic activities have run at a sluggish pace in July despite reversal in some sectors, she pointed out. "It can be observed from the tax payment activities," the minister remarked.

The processing industry experienced a contraction in July but at a lower rate from that in June and May.

"May recorded the deepest contraction. We are optimistic that this positive trend would continue, with an improvement in industrial activities," she added.

Improvement in the trade sector was recorded in July as compared to May during which a 40-percent contraction was recorded.

However, trade recovery in July was not as stable as expected.

"We are optimistic that July will be better than June, but in fact, it was not. This is something that we need to be cautious about in terms of trade. This will affect the recovery in public consumption," Indrawati stated.

Meanwhile, the financial services sector contracted 6.89 percent in July, from 11 percent and 30 percent in June and May respectively.

Inconsistent improvement was clocked in the construction, mining, transportation, and logistics sectors.

"This mapping has indicated that our economic recovery in July was still very fragile, and it can reverse again," she pointed out.

Hence, it is crucial to prevent Indonesia's economy from plunging into recession and to keep it in the neutral zone to recover.

"We will see if the trend in August can be maintained in the zone close to zero (percent). In this case, we still have to struggle to recover to the neutral zone," she stated. (ANTARA)