Indonesian GDP down 0.18% in Q1, missing estimates

Singapore

INDONESIA'S economy unexpectedly shrank last quarter as exports slumped, underscoring the challenge for President Joko Widodo as he seeks to reignite South-east Asia's largest economy.

Gross domestic product contracted 0.18 per cent in the three months ended March 31 from the previous quarter, the statistics bureau said in Jakarta on Tuesday. That compares with the median estimate of a 0.25 per cent expansion in a Bloomberg survey of 10 economists. The economy grew 4.71 per cent from a year earlier, missing most estimates in a separate survey.