Consumer Confidence Rises, Indonesia's Economy Set to Improve

jpnn.com, JAKARTA - The National Consumer Protection Agency (BPKN) has said that consumer confidence in Indonesia is increasing, which will boost the country's economic growth to four percent in 2022.

"In 2022, we predict at four percent, with economic optimism supported by a number of indicators," said BPKN chairman Rizal Halim in Jakarta, Monday (20/12).

Bank Indonesia said that in August 2021, the consumer confidence index was at 95.5 percent and in November 2021, it increased to 113.4 percent.

"The optimism that appears in consumers can be an indication for future conditions," said Rizal.

Rizal said that economic optimism had began to recover in 2021 even though it was still in the middle of the pandemic.

The BPKN predicted the 2021 economic growth at 3.5 percent to 3.7 percent.

"If we see in August 2020, the unemployment number was above 9.7 million people. In August 2021, there was a decline in the unemployment rate. This means that in the midst of the pandemic, we can suppress the spike in the unemployment rate, and we can recover slowly," Rizal said.

In addition, Indonesia's foreign exchange reserves also experienced an increase. The balance of payments surplus in the third quarter reached US$10.3 billion.