Insider Stories - Indonesia's Finance Minister Chatib Basri said the nation's economy is forecast to have expanded by 5.7 percent in 2013, driven by steady domestic consumption and government spendign.
Such prediction means last year's growth would have weakened from 2012's 6.2 percent growth amid high interest rate environment, rising inflation, weak exports and depreciating rupiah currency.
On quarter-on-quarter calculation, Chatib said the economy may have contracted 1.4-2.0 percent in the fourt quarter.
Chatib said some economic indicators like the loan growth, cement sales were slowing. He also noted a slow down in imports of capital goods and a decrease in oil lifting.

Here are some pointers of what Chatib said in a press conference on Monday:
- The deficit in the current-account, the widest measure of trade and investment, would be 3.5-3.7 percent of GDP in 2013 and expected to decline to 2.7-3.2 percent in 2014.
- State revenue realization was lower than the target set in the state budget (95.2 percent), while realization of government spending was also lower than the target (94,9%). The consequense was the state budget deficit stood at Rp 209.5 trillion, or equivalent to 2.24 percent of GDP. This was lower than the target of 2.38 percent of GDP.
- As the deficit was lower than the target, while the realized state budget financing was bigger than the target, then there was a leftover financing of Rp 20.5 trillion from the 2013 budget.
- The realization of fuel subsidy was higher than the target (105.1 percent) due to depreciating rupiah value.
- Ministries/government agencies spending stood at Rp 571.6 trillion, or 90.1 percent of the revised budget target at Rp 634.6 trillion. Still, this achievement was higher than the 2012 realization at Rp 489.4 trillion or 89.3 percent of the target.
- Indonesia's debt to GDP ratio stood at 23.4 percent in 2013, weaker than 28.4 percent in 2009.