Indonesia’s growth slows to weakest in three years

Jakarta: Indonesia’s economic growth slowed to its weakest pace in three years in the final quarter of 2019 as investment, spending and exports weakened despite government efforts to bolster Southeast Asia’s largest economy from a slowdown in global demand.

Economists expect the central bank to further cut rates to shield the economy from the impact of the coronavirus outbreak in China, the country’s biggest trading partner and a major source of direct investment.

Indonesia’s economy expanded 4.97 per cent on an annual basis in the October-December quarter, data from the statistics bureau showed on Wednesday, slower than expected in a Reuters poll.

For 2019, the economy grew 5.02 per cent, close to the poll’s forecast, but short of the government’s 5.3 per cent target.

Slowing global trade amid the US-China tariff dispute had hurt Indonesia’s important commodity exports, while national elections delayed investment decisions.