04/12/2012 (Bernama) - Economist Prof Elfindri of the Andalas University said Indonesia's economic growth in 2013 is expected to be lower than this year.

"The indicator of this is the slowing down of the Chinese economy and the stalled economic growth of the Unites States," Indonesia's Antara news agency quoted Elfindri as saying when contacted from Pekanbaru on Sunday.

Elfindri once suggested that the government set the economic growth in the 2013 state budget at six percent.

"We believe that a six percent economic growth could be achieved if investment schemes have impacts. There is a slight doubt about the possibility of public consumption in 2013 being equal to this year," he said.

He said that the economic growth target of six percent for 2013 was just possible, particularly if the Master Plan for the Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesia`s Economic Development (MP3EI) was implemented successfully.

Elfindri said the economic growth target could be achieved as long as it was not set at 6.8 percent. The united States even revised downward its economic growth target from 2.7 percent to 2.1 percent.

"This means that due to economic recession a number of countries which had previously set a positive growth turned to revise it to zero percent," he said.

He said that if the MP3EI was to be materialised in the fourth quarter 2012, its accelerated impact would be felt only in 2013.

In the meantime, if coal is exported, rubber and crude palm oil (CPO) prices will increase. The economic growth can even exceed 6.8 percent or at a range of 7-8 percent if the annual inflation rate reached 9-11 percent and if the MP3EI succeeded in realising many investment projects, he added.