JAKARTA, The business condition of processing industries in Indonesia is sharply down as shown by a decline in its business tendency index in the first quarter of 2009. "The processing industrial sector is down sharply with its index at 89.86," the head of the National Bureau of Statistics (BPS), Rusman Heriawan, said here on Friday.
Rusman said on average the business tendency index (ITB) in the first quarter of 2009 reached 96.91 or dropped compared to 102.19 the average ITB in the fourth quarter of 2008. The index of most economic sectors is sharply down except electricity, gas and water sectors that reached 102.96, financial, care and corporate service sectors raeching 107.88 and service sector (102.96).
"The financial sector, leasing and corporate service sectors recorded the highest business increase with their index standing at 107.88," he said. He said the drop in the business condition occured because of a decline in corporate earnings, production capacity and working hours.
ITB is an indicator of latest economic development made based on data collected from results of survey on business tendency done by the BPS in cooperation with the central bank. The survey is carried out once in three months in several selected big cities.
The samples for the survey for the first quarter of 2009 totalled 2,300 consisting of big and medium businesses and corporate leaders. According to the BPS survey the ITB for the second quarter reached 98.35. This means that the declining tendency still continued although more slowly than in the first quarter.
"Most economic sectors in the second quarter are predicted to drop except mining, excavating, electricity, gas, clean water and service sectors," he said.
The results of BPS survey on consumer tendency index meanwhile showed consumers’ economic condition in the first quarter rose higher than before.
"The consumer tendency index (ITK) in the period reached 102.15 compared to 100.93 recorded in the fourth quarter of 2008," he said. "The economic condition of consumers is improving because of an increasing income of households and consumption of several non-food commodities such as housing cost (electricity, telephone and water), education, transportation and health service," he said.
He said BPS predicted the ITK for the second quarter would reach 103.28 or rose from the first period. "An improvement in the economic condition of consumers is expected to happen in the second quarter due to an increasing income although purchase of durable goods is predicted to drop," he said.
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