Ministry Of Finance: The Indonesian Manufacturing Sector Is Expansively Consistent In The Center For The Dynamics Of The World Economy

Head of the Fiscal Policy Agency of the Ministry of Finance Febrio Kacaribu. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

Head of the Fiscal Policy Agency of the Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu) Febrio Kacaribu said the national manufacturing sector was consistent with expansion for 17 consecutive months amid the dynamics of the world economy.

The Indonesian manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) in January 2023 recorded an increase to 51.3 from December 2022 which was at the level of 50.9.

"The manufacturing sector, which remains in the expansion zone, shows Indonesia's economic resilience amid global turmoil and the slowdown in manufacturing in various countries," Febrio said in an official statement, quoted from Antara, Friday, February 3.

He revealed that the expansionary trend in January 2023 was also shown by several other countries in the ASEAN region, namely the Philippines at the level of 53.5 (December 2022 which was 53.1) and Thailand 54.5 (December 2022 amounted to 52.5).

Meanwhile, Taiwan with Manufacturing PMI at the level of 44.3 (December 2022 44.6), Malaysia 46.5 (December 2022 47.8), Vietnam 47.4 (December 2022 46.4), South Korea 48.5 (December 2022 48.2), and the United States 46.8 (December 2022 46.2) are still in the contractive zone.

Febrio assessed that new outputs and demand in Indonesia experienced the fastest growth in the last three months due to domestic demand that remains strong.

Although demand from the export side is still somewhat restrained, the increase in domestic demand is able to encourage companies to increase the purchasing activity of input goods.

Overall, the optimism of business actors in early 2023 increased compared to the end of last year, which was reflected in the increase in input goods stock.

"In addition, the price of input goods has decreased even though supply disruptions are still happening," explained Febrio.

Nevertheless, he said, producers still anticipate the conditions of world economic uncertainty and extreme weather which are considered to have the potential to hinder the rate of distribution.