National Economy Projected Still Sluggish, Government Relys On Stimulus In The Remaining Year

Rupiah (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Secretary of the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, Susiwijono Moegiarso, responded to the projected slowdown in national economic growth in the second quarter of 2025 compared to the previous quarter.

However, he said that the government remains optimistic about the national economic growth which is expected to still be in the positive zone. This optimism is supported by various stimuli that have been prepared for the third and fourth quarters of 2025.

"Yesterday we prepared a stimulus for the third quarter, fourth quarter because the global situation is like this, and many things are not just Indonesia, all countries as well," he told the media crew at the Ministry of Finance, Monday, August 4.

He conveyed that for the whole of 2025, the government is still targeting economic growth to remain at 5.2 percent.

Susiwijono added that this target will be pushed through various programs and policies focused on the remainder of the quarter of this year.

"We still have the third quarter, in the fourth quarter we have prepared many things, we still believe that hopefully in the third quarter, we can push the fourth quarter," he said.

He added that the government had held a number of cross-sectoral meetings and coordination, where in the third quarter all steps had started, and in the third quarter, we would speed up the fourth quarter.

Furthermore, Susiwijono emphasized that the second semester of 2025 will be the focus in encouraging national economic growth in 2025.

Susiwijono emphasized that recovery efforts not only depend on government spending, but also touch all aspects of consumption, demand, and supply.

"We are preparing everything so starting from the demand supply side every quarter we continue to push, hopefully it will still be enough and globally, hopefully, it will start to be a bit conducive, right," he concluded.

Previously, Bank Mandiri's Head of Economist Andry Asmoro estimated that economic growth in the second quarter of 2025 would reach 4.79 percent year on year (yoy) or slow down compared to the first quarter of 2025 which grew by 4.87 percent (yoy).

However, on a quarterly basis or quarter to quarter (qtq), the economy is projected to grow by 3.71 percent in the second quarter of 2025, improving from a contraction of 0.98 percent in the previous quarter.

According to Andry, the slowdown in economic growth in the second quarter of 2025 was mainly due to weakening household consumption.

"House consumption is expected to slow down due to seasonal factors and more selective shopping behavior. However, the increase in social assistance from the government is expected to help contain this slowdown," Andry said in a written statement, Monday, August 4.

Meanwhile, he said that investment activities are expected to grow moderately in the second quarter of 2025, as reflected in the decline in cement sales and the slowdown in banking productive credit distribution.

According to him, this shows the formation of more careful capital because the business world is still implementing a wait-and-see approach.

Andry said that government spending is expected to recover from a contraction in the previous period of 1.38 percent.

"Although total expenditures still tend to be slow, central government spending, especially for employee salaries and social programs, is expected to increase this quarter," he said.

In addition, Andry said that export growth is expected to increase in the second quarter of 2025, driven by a front-loading strategy ahead of the implementation of US import rates.

"This increase is expected to support the performance of net exports amidst the still weak global trade," he concluded.