Sri Mulyani Is Optimistic That The Economy Will Grow 4.5 Percent In The Third Quarter And 4 Percent Throughout 2021

Illustration (Photo: Doc. Ministry of Finance)

JAKARTA - Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani, believes that if economic growth in the third quarter of 2021 can be perched at the level of 4.5 percent.

"Economic performance continues to improve, thus providing optimism for economic recovery in line with the successful handling of COVID-19 and various social protection programs to protect the public", She said in a statement as quoted on the official website, Tuesday, October 26.

According to the Minister of Finance, community activities have improved since the pandemic can be controlled, especially when the delta variant spreads.

"The public spending indicators have shown a fairly good level of recovery and this will later determine our economic growth projections in the third quarter", She said.

Meanwhile, for overall economic growth in 2021, the country's treasurer projects it to reach 4 percent.

"Economic performance in the fourth quarter has the potential to rebound and is supported by the rebalancing of various economic activities", She stressed.

In the explanation of the Minister of Finance, sales of commercial vehicles had increased by more than 9 times. Although the growth was not as high as when the initial correction occurred, sales of commercial vehicles still grew 60 percent year-on-year (YoY).

On the other hand, the trade balance surplus continued in September 2021 at 4.37 billion US dollars. This achievement is the result of a non-oil and gas surplus where the cumulative performance for 2021 is higher than 2020. This makes Indonesia already experiencing a non-oil and gas trade balance surplus for 16 consecutive months since May 2020.

"This is what raises optimism for Indonesia's economic activity, especially the third quarter, even though at that time we were facing a blow from the delta variant", She said.

However, the Minister of Finance reminded the use of momentum to strengthen fiscal performance needs to be accompanied by vigilance on the dynamics of the global economy.

“China, the United States, and Europe affect the outlook in the fourth quarter, especially for next year. So overall for this year, we will estimate economic growth at 4 percent", said Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani.