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JAKARTA - INDONESIA'S full-year growth for 2007 clocked in at 6.32 per cent, the fastest rate since the country was hit by the Asian financial crisis 11 years ago, official data showed on Friday.
The figure was slightly higher than the government forecast of 6.30 per cent, but remained lower than the pre-crisis level of 7.8 per cent recorded in 1996.
The Indonesian economy contracted 2.15 per cent however in the last quarter of 2007 compared to a year earlier, but grew 6.25 per cent compared to the same quarter in 2006, said Slamet Sutomo, deputy chairman of the statistics bureau.
'Some external and domestic factors have resulted in a contraction in the fourth quarter but full-year growth was slightly better than the government's forecast,' Mr Sutomo told a press briefing.
The results were within a range expected by economists.
Separately, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Indonesia may trim its gross domestic product growth forecast for 2008 to 6.4 per cent, down from 6.8 per cent due to the expected slowdown in the global economy.
The government is expected to submit its revised 2008 state budget to the lower house of parliament by the end of the month.
The government is also planning to raise its inflation target to 6.5 per cent from 6.0 per cent, Mr Yudhoyono said during a gathering with provincial governors.
The government's budget deficit is now forecast to come in at 2.0 per cent of GDP, up from 1.7 per cent, the president said, while the price of crude oil is projected to average 83 instead of 60 dollars per barrel. -- AFP
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