Indonesia's Economy Grows at Slowest Pace in Three Years

Indonesia's economy grew at its slowest pace in more than three years amid tepid household consumption, and a sharp drop in government spending and investment, putting President Prabowo Subianto's 8 percent goal even further out of reach.

- 

JAKARTA -

Gross domestic product (GDP) in the three months until March expanded 4.87 percent from a year earlier, the statistics office said on May 5. That is below the 4.92 percent median estimate in a Bloomberg survey and is the lowest growth since the third quarter of 2021. On a quarterly basis, GDP fell 0.98 percent, more than the estimated contraction of 0.9 percent.

The data is bad news for Southeast Asia's largest economy, which needs domestic demand to help insulate it from the escalating global trade war. US President Donald Trump has threatened Indonesia with a 32 percent so-called reciprocal tariff, among the highest in the region, though it has been pared back to 10 percent for now to allow time for trade negotiations.

The rupiah pared gains to 0.2 percent against the US dollar amid a broad rally in Asian currencies.