Indonesia's economy grew in the fourth quarter of 2010 at the strongest pace in six years, blowing past expectations and increasing the chances of steeper rate hikes in coming months to headd off inflationary pressures.
For 2010 as a whole, Southeast Asia's top economy expanded 6.1 percent, underscoring some expectations that the G20 member is in line for a coveted investment grade credit rating in the next year or so to place it alongside the so-called BRIC nations of Brazil, Russia, India and China.
Gross domestic product rose in the fourth quarter by 6.9 percent over a year earlier, well above even the most optimistic forecast of 6.5 percent in a Reuters poll, helping explain the central bank's concern about a build-up of inflationary pressure that prompted it to raise interest rates on Friday.
The fourth-quarter growth, driven by government spending, domestic consumption and investment, added to other figures showing economies in Southeast Asia grew strongly into the end of the year. Before Monday's data, economists had expected Indonesia to grow 6.2 percent in 2011, versus a government forecast of 6.4 percent.
Comments
Comments are closed.