Indonesia’s economy expanded a higher-than-expected 6.4% in the second quarter as robust domestic demand offset a decline in the international appetite for its exports.
In the three months ended June 30, Southeast Asia’s largest economy continued to rack up some of the strongest economic growth in the world, as the archipelago’s growing consumer class was relatively unaffected by global debt problems and slowdowns that are dousing demand in many developed countries.
he Central Statistics Agency said Indonesia’s gross domestic product climbed 6.4% from a year earlier and 2.8% from the previous quarter. The 6.4% figure for the quarter beat analyst forecasts, with most expecting growth for the three months to be around 6.1%.
“If any country in Asia was going to hold up well in the second quarter, I expected it would be Indonesia, given its strong domestic consumption,” said Kenneth Akintewe, a portfolio manager at Aberdeen Asset Management Asia Ltd.
