VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The exchange rate of the rupiah, traded in the interbank market in Jakarta, Tuesday, is estimated to go down following the release of economic growth data for the first quarter of 2019.  At 9:47 am local time, the value of the rupiah went down 11 points or 0.08 percent, from 14,298 to 14,309 rupiah per US dollar.

The economist from Samuel Asset Management, Lana Soelistianingsih, predicted that the value of the rupiah would go down between 14,300 and 14,330 rupiah per US dollar on Tuesday.  Based on data from the Central Bureau of Statistics released on Monday, Soelistianingsih said that Indonesia’s economic growth in the first quarter was recorded at 5.07 percent year-on-year (yoy).

The growth rate fell short of the consensus forecast of analysts, which was 5.2 percent (yoy).

“Hence, it now seems difficult for the economy to achieve growth according to the 2019 state budget at 5.3 percent. We estimate the economic growth in 2019 to reach 5.14 percent,” Soelistianingsih said.

Economic growth in the first quarter of 2019 has been relatively stagnant compared to the first quarter of 2018, recorded to have reached 5.06 percent (yoy).

Furthermore, the economic growth in the first quarter of 2019 was recorded at negative 4.52 percent on a quarter-to-quarter (qtq) basis, indicating a decline compared to the first quarter of 2018 with negative 0.51 percent.

In the business field, the services sector contributed the highest growth, followed by the manufacturing sector, and the trade sector.

Meanwhile, household consumption, followed by the investment sector and net exports became the main sources of growth in expenditure.

“Government spending on the general elections did not seem to be strong enough to drive economic growth; rather, the contribution seemed to have slowed down compared to the fourth quarter of 2018, although it was still higher compared to the first quarter of 2018,” she explained. (ant)