INDONESIA’S annual economic growth accelerated in the third quarter to 5.72 per cent, the fastest in more than a year but below market expectation, official data showed on Monday (Nov 7). The second-quarter growth rate was 5.44 per cent on a yearly basis. Economists in an earlier Reuters poll had expected gross domestic product in the July-September quarter to be 5.89 per cent bigger than the same period last year. Unadjusted for seasonal factors, GDP expanded 1.81 per cent from the previous three months, compared with the poll’s forecast of 1.62 per cent. Indonesia has been enjoying an export boom for more than a year due to high commodity prices, with 2022 export earnings expected to be the country’s largest ever. This had underpinned market stability and growth in South-east Asia’s largest economy. Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has said that the government would work to maintain Indonesia’s position as a relative “bright spot”, but warned that domestic economic activities could be affected by a potential global recession. REUTERS