JAKARTA, April 26 (Xinhua) -- The foreign direct investment (FDI) into Indonesia grew 0.94 percent to 96.1 trillion rupiah (some 7.238 billion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter, the slowest pace in five years, an investment coordinating board said on Wednesday.
That was partly caused by conversion into rupiah, chairman of the board Thomas Trikasih Lembong said.
For the first three months, the board used a rupiah exchange rate of 13,300 per U.S. dollar, which was assumed as the average in the government development budget this year, compared with the 13,900 per U.S. dollar, the board assumed in the same quarter of last year, according to the board.
"So with the appreciation of rupiah, the nominal value of FDI fell, although in terms of U.S. dollar it increased," Lembong said.
Most of the investment went to the sectors of mining, metal and properties, according to the board.
Singapore, followed by Japan, China, the United States and South Korea, is the biggest source of foreign direct investment into Indonesia from January to March, it said.
