A corner of Jakarta (Source: Jakarta Post)Jakarta (VNA) - Indonesia’s consumer confidenceindex (IKK) dropped to 77.8 in May from 84.83 in the previousmonth, indicating consumer pessimism about the domestic economy’s prospects, aBank Indonesia (BI) survey has shown.
As of May 27, more than 1.79 million people had lost theirjobs as many nonessential businesses shut down to comply with governmentrestrictions, according to data from the country’s Manpower Ministry.
Meanwhile, the country’s economy grew by only 2.97 percentin the first quarter, the weakest since 2001, because of cooling householdspending and investment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Consumer spending grew byjust 2.84 percent year-on-year inthe first quarter, much lower than the5.01-percent growth recorded in the same period last year, according to the Jakarta Post newspaper.
BI said household spending is the key pillar of theIndonesian economy, as it contributed about 58 percent to the country’s GDP inthe first quarter alone.
“Forthe next six months, however, consumers remain upbeat about economic conditionssupported by the prospect of job availability and higher income as the COVID-19pandemic subsides,” the newspaper quoted the report as saying.
To support the country’s economic recovery, the governmentwill widen the budget deficit to 6.34 percent of GDP this year to cover astimulus package of Rp 677.2 trillion (47.7 billion USD) aimed at jump-startingeconomic recovery./.
VNA
