The Asian Development Bank or ADB predicts that Indonesia's economic growth in 2021 will be at 4 percent. ADB's Vice President of Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development, Bambang Susantono, said that the latest estimate will officially be issued in the near future.
He said the prediction figures released by the agency would be lower than those announced by the previous government. “Lastly last July, we estimated 4 percent. The tendency will go down. Around 3.5 percent to 4 percent and that will usually be issued in September," said Bambang, during a virtual discussion, Tuesday, August 31, 2021.
Previously, the government on several occasions announced that Indonesia's economic growth would be in the range of 3.7 percent to 4.5 percent. This figure is down from the previous projection due to the Covid-19 wave in July.
With this figure, Bambang sees that the economic recovery has already occurred. Last year, Indonesia experienced a recession with gross domestic product (GDP) at minus 2.1 percent.
Even though it is improving, Bambang sees based on existing records, Indonesia's GDP is still not at the trend before Covid-19. He hopes the national economy can get back on track.
Meanwhile, the government needs to be aware of a K-shaped recovery. This means that there are sectors that are growing in the midst of a pandemic and there are sectors that are otherwise. ADB does not want the gap to widen.
