Indonesia GDP Growth Slows Marginally

(RTTNews) - Indonesia's economic growth eased in the third quarter on softening household consumption, official data revealed on Tuesday.

Gross domestic product posted an annual growth of 4.95 percent in the third quarter, slightly weaker than the 5.05 percent expansion seen in the preceding period, Statistics Indonesia said. GDP was forecast to grow 5.0 percent.

Southeast Asia's largest economy expanded at a much weaker pace of 1.50 percent sequentially after rising 3.79 percent in the second quarter.

This was slower than economists' forecast of 1.6 percent. Nonetheless, GDP grew for the second consecutive quarter.

During January to September period, the economy grew 5.03 percent from the same period last year.

On the expenditure-side, household spending grew 4.91 percent and government consumption gained 4.62 percent. Gross fixed capital formation expanded 5.15 percent. Exports advanced 9.09 percent, while imports logged a much stronger growth of 11.47 percent.

The Indonesia Activity Tracker, compiled by Capital Economics, to get a better gauge of how the economy is performing showed that it is growing at a pace faster than the official data suggest, Capital Economics' economist Gareth Leather.

Although the official data will probably continue to show growth of 5.0 percent, the economist said growth is likely to slow as lower commodity prices, subdued global demand and tight monetary policy weigh on demand.