Indonesia's Q2 growth beats forecasts as government spending surges

Jakarta

INDONESIA'S second-quarter growth beat expectations as President Joko Widodo's government embarked on a spending spree to boost an economy grappling with a slowdown in China and low commodity prices.

Gross domestic product (GDP) increased 5.18 per cent from a year earlier, compared with a revised 4.91 per cent in the first three months, the statistics bureau said in Jakarta on Friday. That exceeded the 5 per cent median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of 24 economists.