Govt Predicts Growth Reaches 6.1 Pct In H1

Jakarta, July 9 (Antara) - The Finance Ministry has predicted that the national economy would expand 6.1 percent in the first half of 2013 if the second-quarter growth reached 6.2 percent. "We predict the economy grew 6.1 percent in the first half of 2013," Finance Minister Chatib Basri said at a meeting of the House of Representatives (DPR)`s Budget Council discussing the first-semester realization of the state budget here on Monday. He said the first-semester growth would be lower than expected as the import of capital goods for investment slowed down by minus 15 percent, coupled with the fuel price hike affecting public consumption and inflation rate. Yet he remained optimistic that the year-end growth would reach the government-set target of 6.3 percent by easing investment permits, speeding up the disbursement of state budget funds and containing inflation rate to maintain the purchasing power of the public. "Admittedly, the economy tends to grow at a slower pace but we remain optimistic that the 6.3 percent growth could be achieved. This is not easy because there must be extra efforts," he said. Bambang Brodjonegoro, acting head of the ministry`s fiscal policy board, said earlier the second-quarter growth was projected to reach 6.0 percent-6.1 percent. But he believed the full-year growth would reach the target of 6.3 percent by raising capital spending to encourage investment. "It would be better for us to set higher economic growth target so we will feel encouraged to achieve it. Don`t set it too low as many people will think it is easy to achieve it," he said. Bank Indonesia (BI) earlier revised downward its economic growth forecast for the country to 5.9 percent from 6.2 percent, citing uncertainty about global economic conditions. The central bank has predicted the domestic economy will expand by a range of 5.8 percent to 6.2 percent this year.