Bank UOB Indonesia projects Indonesia’s economy to grow next year despite the global slowdown. UOB Indonesia president director Kevin Lam said Indonesia’s economy will grow steadily at around 5.2 percent in 2017, up from this year’s 5.0 percent.
Kevin is certain that the government will maintain the country’s growth momentum through various economic policy packages aimed at boosting investments. Several infrastructure projects that are currently underway are also expected to help achieve economic equality and income growth.
“The projects also create jobs, thus contributing to household consumption,” he said in a press conference after the UOB Indonesia Economic Outlook 2017 event in Jakarta.
Kevin said the government’s effort to attract investors by releasing policy packages—comprised of relaxations and deregulations—is working. According to the UOB Asian Enterprise Survey 2016, nearly a quarter of the respondents, which were Asian companies, chose Indonesia as a destination for their expansions in the next three to five years.
Last week, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati projected that Indonesia’s economy in the fourth quarter will reach 5.0-5.1 percent, “due to fiscal expansions.”
The minister said state institutions will have plenty of expenditures ahead of the year-end, and the state’s spending figure will reach 96 percent of the target.