JAKARTA, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian central bank has forecast the country's economy to expand at a faster pace in the third quarter as consumption picks up amid high exports.
Head of economic and monetary policies department of the central bank, Dody Budi Waluyo, said on Thursday that the bank expects the gross domestic product to grow 5.2 percent from July to September, compared with 5.01 percent in the second and the first quarter.
"Indicators of foods and beverages already hiked in August after contraction in July," he said.
Consumption account for more than half of Indonesian gross domestic product growth.
According to the national statistics bureau, core inflation started to picked up to 3 percent in September on early basis from 2.98 percent in August.
For the whole year, the economy is expected to grow 5.17 percent, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has said.
