From: Antara News
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said the country`s economic growth in the first quarter of this year was believed to reach over five percent.

"We have a growth estimate but in the first quarter it could reach over five percent," the minister said at the office of the chief economic minister here on Wednesday.

The minister said that although the figure was still an estimate, the government was optimistic that it could reach 5-5,5 percent in accordance with the official economic growth assumption for 2010.

"So, let`s see later," she said.

Chief of the Fiscal Policy of the Ministry of Finance Anggito Abimanyu said there were several factors that caused the economic growth in the first quarter to improve.

The factors included the investment, the increase by 50 percent of exports, improving global economic conditions and the absence of increase in Chinese goods imports.

"We are optimistic with that estimate. Should it be wrong, I think it would be bigger than our estimate, meaning that it remains positive," he said.

Anggito said that the government had not yet carried out excessive spending in the first quarter of this year. There was neither sector that needed large spending nor was there negative indication in the real sector development.

"In our early monitoring in the first quarter of this year the economic growth was still good and there was no turmoil," he said.(*)

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