Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said that despite the current global economic situation, Indonesia’s economy could grow by 4.7%, and this was still much higher than other countries.
“The current 4.7% growth is lower than the previous period; but it is still realistic. China, the second largest economic power in the world, has cut its interest rate several times and this is because the current global situation is really unpredictable,” he said as quoted by Antara News Agency on Tuesday.
The minister was speaking on the sidelines of his visit to China to attend the signing of agreement on the establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and a string of bilateral meetings in Beijing Monday evening.
According to Bambang, the current situation of Greece financial crisis has remained unclear and this has affected the global economic and financial situation, including in Indonesia.
“So this is why our cabinet work performances should not be seen only on one side, but in a wider context,” he said, referring to a widespread speculation on an imminent cabinet reshuffle, especially due to poor performances of several economic ministers.
Earlier, Bambang said he would remain positive even if there should be a cabinet reshuffle. “I want to respond to it [the cabinet reshuffle speculation] positively, and just follow developing situations. If President Joko Widodo, known as Jokowi, has recently carried out a meeting with experts or economists, I think it’s normal for him to ask for inputs over the current national economic situations or something else,” he said.
“Our economy is weakening and rupiah is depreciating. However, this is not only because of domestic situations. There are many global situations we cannot predict precisely because their dynamics are too high,” said the minister.
