REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, SEMARANG -- The economy of Central Java and Yogyakarta is predicted to grow 5.3 percent in the last two quarters of this year.
In the last two quarters we predict the economy (of the two regions) would grow as reflected in the leading sector in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)," head of the representative of Bank Indonesia (BI) for Central Java and Yogyakarta Iskandar Simorangkir said at a media gathering in Yogyakarta on Saturday.
"Cement consumption has increased . In Central Java and Yogyakarta data show that consumption of thye building material has increased," Iskandar cited.
The rise in cement consumption indicated that the government's program in infrastructure development begins to roll as also was reflected by significant increase in budget spending, he added.
Other indicators include growing sales of motor vehicles and imports of capital goods such as industrial machines, he said.
"The machines are used for production. That means there are growing production activities ," he said.
Therefore, the economy of Central Java and Yogyakarta is expected to grow 5.3 percent in the third quarter and 5.34 percent in the last quarter of this year, he said.
He predicted the country's economy would grow in the range of 4.7-5.1 percent or 4.9 percent this year.