JAKARTA, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian central bank has projected the country's economy to accelerate at a faster pace in the second quarter of this year, a senior official of the lender disclosed here on Thursday.
The bank expected the GDP growth to expand above the growth in the first quarter of 5.01 percent and below 5.1 percent in three months ending in June, said head of economic and monetary policies of the central bank Dody Budi Waluyo.
The Southeast Asia's biggest economy has enjoyed rising global prices and demand of commodities, the major exported products from the country, amid rebound of oil prices.
Indonesia has revised upward GDP growth target to 5.2 percent for this year from the previous revision of 5.1 percent due to a better prospect of exports and low expectation of inflation, no more than 4 percent.
For next year, Waluyo said the country's top monetary policy maker estimated the economy to grow 5.2 percent, and 5.1 to 5.4 percent for 2019.
The Indonesian central bank has taken a neutral stance since October 2016 by holding its benchmark interest rate at 4.75 percent despite tightening policy of the U.S. Federal Reserve and the hawkish prospect of its upcoming monetary policies.
That was partly due to a rapid inflow of capitals into the country amid strong macro-economic fundamentals.
In May, Indonesia secured credit rating upgrade from S&P Global rating after having similar level of upgrade from Fitch and Moody's rating agencies.
