Bloomberg Indonesia May Cut 2009 GDP Forecast; Urges Concrete G-20 Action - Sri Mulyani interview in London

March 31 (Bloomberg) -- Indonesia said it may reduce its forecast for growth this year as the world economy slows, urging leaders at the Group of 20 summit to come up with “concrete” policies to mitigate the global recession.

Indonesia may cut its 2009 economic growth forecast to 3.5 percent from 4.5 percent, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said in London yesterday, where she is attending the G-20 gathering. That would be the slowest expansion in eight years.
“The expectation is becoming very, very high for the leaders meeting to provide a very concrete action now,” Sri Mulyani said in an interview yesterday. “It’s very important for us to come together and use very valuable time to formulate the policy responses to minimize this severe downturn.”

Leaders of advanced and emerging economies are closing ranks behind plans for tougher rules on financial markets to prevent another collapse like the one that pushed the world into the current economic slump. When G-20 leaders last met in November, the U.S. resisted European suggestions for a single global regulator and government oversight of hedge funds. G-20 countries are also spurring accounting-standard setters to speed up the work of narrowing differences so investors can compare financial statements around the world.

The leaders may agree on the size of fiscal stimulus plans, Sri Mulyani said, without giving details. “It’s time for us not to do the political rhetoric of blaming each other,” she said. Leaders of G-20 nations including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the U.S., the U.K. and the European Union, will meet in London on April 2.

For Related News and Information:
For more stories on G-20 and Indonesia
NSE INDONESIA G 20 IN WIRE: BN
Most-read Indonesian stories: MNI INDO 1W Indonesia’s economic data: ECST ID Global economic snapshot: GEW Global foreign reserves statistics: WIRA Writedowns and losses: WDCI Government relief programs: GGRP For stories on Southeast Asia: TOP SAS

--Editors: Stephanie Phang, Margo Towie

To contact the reporter on this story:
Arijit Ghosh in Jakarta at +62-21-3435-3025 or aghosh@bloomberg.net; Elliott Gotkine in London at +44-20-7673-2386 or egotkine@bloomberg.net