Sri Mulyani Optimistic That Economic Growth In The First Quarter Of 2023 Remains High

Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani (Photo: Doc. Antara)

The government through the Ministry of Finance emphasized that the Indonesian economy still shows strong recovery, including supported by expectations of demand ahead of Eid.

Minister of Finance (Menkeu) Sri Mulyani said that the control of inflation and people's purchasing power is gradually improving as a separate indicator of the government's optimistic attitude. According to her, the signal can be captured from the retail sales index as well as recorded a sharp increase, which is 4.8 percent year on year (yoy), in connection with the moment of Ramadan.

"The government believes that in April it will be well maintained and contribute to the momentum of Indonesia's recovery and economic growth to remain high," he said when giving an explanation to the media crew, quoted on Tuesday, April 18.

The Minister of Finance explained that the domestic inflation rate per March slowed down, especially from volatile food inflation which experienced a decline, as well as declining core inflation.

"Food inflation control continues to be strengthened to maintain price stability, especially during the National Religious Holidays (HBKN). Controlled inflation is a positive thing and helps increase people's purchasing power," he said.

The Minister of Finance added that the performance of the Trade Balance (NP) is still continuing its surplus, entering the 35th month with a surplus of 2.91 billion US dollars. However, due to the weakening of the global economy, exports and imports also experienced contraction.

The outlook for domestic economic growth in 2023 is relatively stable, driven by increased domestic demand, both household consumption and investment. Even the IMF revised the outlook for Indonesia's economic growth to 5.0 percent (yoy) from the previous 4.8 percent (yoy) amidst global uncertainty that must remain vigilant," he concluded.