"The estimation of a growth rate of 5.1, 5.2 or 5.3 percent is still open for discussion or debate. We should not be too pessimistic," he stated at the Parliament Building in Jakarta on Wednesday.
Nasution noted that the investment sector in Indonesia has not slowed down and credit growth was relatively not bad though growth has not been very good.
Responding to a condition wherein demand is declining, Nasution said it can be raised through investment in government infrastructure and human resource development that will also stimulate supply.
Nasution said the government is still optimistic about economic growth in 2017, and was hoping that it could turn out to be higher than 5.1 percent.
"Those connected with budget formulation are not too optimistic but others could be a bit more optimistic," Nasution added.
The working meeting of Commission XI of the House of Representatives and the Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani, agreed on an economic growth rate of 5.1 percent in the proposed Draft 2017 State Budget (RAPBN 2017).
The figure declined by 0.2 percent from the financial statement delivered by President Joko Widodo in his official speech on August 16, 2016.
When brought to the Budget Committee, the figure was not approved while other macro assumptions in the draft budget 2017 such as inflation and oil lifting level has been approved.(WDY)
