By Yi Wei Wong
Indonesia’s economic growth accelerated in the second quarter, as exports to the country’s major trading partners surged thanks to rising commodity prices.
Southeast Asia’s largest economy expanded 5.44% compared with the same period a year earlier, Indonesia’s official statistics agency said Friday. That compares with 5.01% growth in the previous quarter, and beat the median estimate for 5.15% growth from a Wall Street Journal poll of analysts.
The economy benefited from a “windfall” as commodity prices gained, said statistics agency head Margo Yuwono. Indonesia’s exports rose 19.7% during the quarter from a year earlier, helped by rising prices of various commodities such as coal.
Household consumption, which powers over half of Indonesia’s economy, rose 5.5% from a year earlier.
Compared with the previous quarter, gross domestic product expanded 3.72%, due to growth in leading sectors, including the agriculture and mining sectors, according to the statistics head. Household consumption also grew faster in the second quarter compared with the first quarter of the year, he said.
The economy grew 5.23% in the first half, the statistics agency added.
Bank Indonesia said it expects the Indonesian economy to grow between 4.5%-5.3% for 2022.
Indonesia’s economy expanded 3.69% in 2021, recovering from a contraction of 2.07% in 2020 amid the pandemic.
Write to Yi Wei Wong at yiwei.wong@wsj.com
