The central bank said the fiscal boost will help the economy maintain its expansion of about 5.2 percent in the first quarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe government\u2019s fiscal stimulus for social assistance has been high, which pushes economic growth particularly in terms of consumption and people\u2019s purchasing power,\u201d Governor Perry Warjiyo told reporters in Jakarta on Friday. \u201cThe main supporting factor is strong consumption.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Java powers along, Bali-Nusa Tenggara’s growth rate has slumped<\/p>\n\n\n\n Source: Indonesian Central Bureau of Statistics<\/p>\n\n\n\n The spending surge may turn out to be a vote winner for Jokowi, who faces former general Prabowo Subianto in the presidential vote. The opposition leader, known more commonly by his first name Prabowo, is behind in the polls, but is working hard to win over voters by showing his concern for bread-and-butter issues, such as living costs and jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prabowo is trailing Jokowi in voter surveys ahead of the election, but is starting to make some gains. A new poll<\/a> this week showed Jokowi\u2019s support was little changed at 53.6 percent, while Prabowo\u2019s rose to 35.4 percent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The economic divide in Indonesia is stark. Last year, the capital Jakarta notched up economic growth of 6.4 percent compared to Papua, a province in the far east of the country, which contracted almost 18 percent. In Yogyakarta — located on the island of Java, which contributes almost 60 percent of the nation\u2019s annual growth — the jobless rate last year was 3.35 percent, compared to 8.17 percent in West Java.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unemployment rates are falling but vary widely across the country<\/p>\n\n\n\n Source: Indonesian Central Bureau of Statistics<\/p>\n\n\n\n Josua Pardede, an economist with PT Bank Permata in Jakarta, said the 2019 election is already having an impact on consumption. Retail sales historically decline in the first quarter of the year, he said, but figures from the central bank already show a 10.9 percent jump in February from a year ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Low inflation and the possibility of interest-rate cuts are helping to underpin consumer sentiment. Consumer prices rose at the slowest pace in almost a decade in February, the currency has gained almost 2 percent against the dollar so far this year, and economists from Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley<\/a> and elsewhere predict rate cuts<\/a> in coming months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The biggest growth risks are coming from the global economy, with a slowdown in China — Indonesia\u2019s biggest trading partner — ongoing trade tensions, and weaker export demand likely to weigh on Indonesia\u2019s outlook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIndonesia is showing that even during the election time, the macroeconomic stability and prudence continue to be in place,\u201d Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said last week. \u201cBut, of course, we also understand that the headwind continues to become even more challenging. The global economic environment is not easy.\u201d Indonesia\u2019s economy, the biggest in Southeast Asia, is getting a boost from an election campaign that\u2019s kicking into high gear. With the first-ever simultaneous presidential and legislative elections drawing closer on April 17, spending by the government and political parties is already in overdrive. From the printing of pamphlets to mass gatherings, election activity has intensified in the past two… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-analysis-post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3329"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3329\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3330,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3329\/revisions\/3330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Interview](\"https:\/\/assets.bwbx.io\/images\/users\/iqjWHBFdfxIU\/iWhwJGtC3ZiQ\/v0\/800x-1.jpg\")
The Great Divide<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Jokowi](\"https:\/\/assets.bwbx.io\/images\/users\/iqjWHBFdfxIU\/iK3ZsriQOQ2Q\/v0\/800x-1.jpg\")
On the Job<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Elections](\"https:\/\/assets.bwbx.io\/images\/users\/iqjWHBFdfxIU\/iJfkQYcLH1w0\/v2\/pidjEfPlU1QWZop3vfGKsrX.ke8XuWirGYh1PKgEw44kE\/620x-1.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"