JAKARTA, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia's central bank forecasted that the country's economy will grow by 5.9 to 6.1 percent in the second quarter of this year, Agus Martowardojo, governor of the bank said here on Friday.
This is slower than that of the 6.2-percent growth expected in the first three months, said Martowardojo.
"We have monitored on the economic growth at the second quarter, we forecast at range of 5.9 to 6.1 percent," he said.
For entire of this year, the bank has revised down economic growth target this year to between 6.2 and 6.6 percent from 6.3 to 6.8 percent due to a decline on consumption and investment.
The correction was made in respond to the global economic slowdown, Bambang Brodjonegoro, head of fiscal policy at finance ministry, has said.
Agus said that the central bank kept closely watching the development of both global economic growth and national economic growth.
The central bank has kept its benchmark interest rate on a record low of 5.75 percent for a fifteenth straight month at the beginning of May to help spur economic growth amid rising inflation pressure.
The government is to increase subsidized-fuel prices at mid- June to ease pressure on the state budget that allows the country to set aside more funds for infrastructure.
Indonesia is a net oil importer country and provides a huge fuel subsidy, and rising demand on the subsidized fuel has risen import of the commodity that widens trade deficit gap and weakening rupiah and pushing imported inflation.
This pushes the central bank to use more its foreign exchange reserve to counter the weakening of rupiah.
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