(MENAFNEditorial)
JAKARTA February 6 2015— Indonesia’s economy shrank last quarter from the previous three months capping the weakest year since at least the global financial crisis on falling commodity prices and cooling investment.
Southeast Asia’s biggest economy shrank 2.06% last quarter from the previous three months when it expanded a revised 3.16% the statistics bureau said in Jakarta on Thursday. It grew 5.02% in 2014 from a revised 5.58% pace the previous year.
President Joko Widodo who took office in October inherited an economy grappling with years of under-investment in infrastructure sliding commodity prices and the withdrawal of U.S. monetary stimulus.
He said earlier this week he’s sticking to an expansion target of 5.7% in 2015 pledging to fast- track transport projects lift tax revenue and cut red tape to attract investment.
“Growth slowed last year due to interest-rate increases impact from fuel-subsidy cuts and as some foreign investors took a wait-and-see stance on investment before the presidential election” said Toru Nishihama an economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute in Tokyo. “But we can expect a recovery this year” as lower oil prices curb inflation he said.
Oil and coal prices fell in 2014 the statistics bureau said in evaluating the 2014 performance.
Full-year growth slowed even after gross domestic product rose 5.01% in the three months ended December 31 from a year earlier compared with a revised 4.92% in the previous quarter. Read more..
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