Indonesian central bank says will use mix of policies to revive growth

[JAKARTA] Indonesia's central bank will use its arsenal of policies to help revive economic growth, which has slowed to its weakest since 2009, the governor of Bank Indonesia said on Wednesday. "BI will coordinate with the government and BI will respond in the form of a policy mix," Agus Martowardojo told reporters after meeting with President Joko Widodo. "In the policy mix, the main things are policy on exchange rate, interest rate, reserves, macroprudential, communication, coordination between central banks and coordination with the government.

Martowardojo said he had anticipated the economic slowdown in the first quarter.

The economy grew a slower-than-expected 4.71 per cent in the January-March quarter from a year earlier, hit by a collapse in commodities and weak government spending. Growth was below a median forecast of 4.95 per cent in a Reuters poll and slower than fourth quarter growth of 5.01 per cent.

REUTERS