Indonesian economy grows 5.78 pct in 2013, slowest in 4 year

Reuters - Indonesia's economy in 2013 grew at its slowest pace in four years, the statistics bureau said on Wednesday, as the end of a commodities boom undermined exports and higher interest rates dragged on consumption.

Gross domestic product rose 5.78 percent in 2013, after a 6.23 percent increase in 2012 and marking the slowest growth since 2009. The result compared with the median forecast of 5.7 percent growth in a Reuters poll of economists.

Southeast Asia's biggest economy has enjoyed annual growth of more than 6 percent in recent years, underpinned by spending among its growing middle class.

But domestic demand has started to feel the impact of aggressive rate increases by the central bank aimed at easing the current account deficit and reining in inflation.

In the October to December period, the economy grew 5.72 percent from a year earlier, while on a quarterly basis it contracted 1.42 percent. Economists had expected 5.30 percent growth on an annual basis and a quarterly 1.67 percent contraction.

The rupiah traded at 12,185 to the dollar after the announcement.

Indonesia's main stock index was up 0.36 percent.

KEY DATA:

y/y q/q (nsa)

Q4 2013 5.72 -1.42

Q3 2013 5.62 2.96

Q2 2013 5.8 2.6

Q1 2013 6.0 1.4

Q4 2012 6.1 -1.5

Q3 2012 6.2 3.2

Q2 2012 6.4 2.8

Q1 2012 6.3 1.4

Q4 2011 6.5 -1.3

Q3 2011 6.5 3.5

Q2 2011 6.5 2.9

Q1 2011 6.4 1.6

FULL-YEAR GROWTH:

2013 5.78

2012 6.2

2011 6.5

2010 6.2

2009 4.6

2008 6.1

2007 6.3

2006 5.5

2005 5.7