Govt. reduces export growth target
The government had reduced its export growth target for next year to below 11.9% because of slower demand from Japan, the US and Europe, Trade Minister Mari Pangestu said on Tuesday, Bloomberg reported.
The three regions account for about a third of Indonesia's export sales, she said.
This year's estimated 12.5% growth would already be the slowest growth in Indonesia's exports in five years, Bloomberg data shows.
The reduction in the export growth forecast follows a downgrade in Indonesia's economic growth estimate to between 5.5% and 6% from an earlier estimate of 6.3%, Pangestu said. "The slowdown in China will also affect us," said Pangestu.
Exports to China, Indonesia's fourth-biggest market, reached $5.6 billion in the first eight months of the year, an increase of 29% from a year earlier, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics.
Separately, Pangestu said the government remains committed to free trade and is not planning to raise trade barriers in response to the global financial crisis, Agence France-Presse reported.
"The government will not impose any policies that could be in breach of Indonesia's international trade agreements," she told reporters at a trade expo opened by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Jakarta.
The three regions account for about a third of Indonesia's export sales, she said.
This year's estimated 12.5% growth would already be the slowest growth in Indonesia's exports in five years, Bloomberg data shows.
The reduction in the export growth forecast follows a downgrade in Indonesia's economic growth estimate to between 5.5% and 6% from an earlier estimate of 6.3%, Pangestu said. "The slowdown in China will also affect us," said Pangestu.
Exports to China, Indonesia's fourth-biggest market, reached $5.6 billion in the first eight months of the year, an increase of 29% from a year earlier, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics.
Separately, Pangestu said the government remains committed to free trade and is not planning to raise trade barriers in response to the global financial crisis, Agence France-Presse reported.
"The government will not impose any policies that could be in breach of Indonesia's international trade agreements," she told reporters at a trade expo opened by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Jakarta.