06/10/2011 (Tempo Interactive) - The World Bank says Indonesia will weather current economic strains in the global economy, even if investments in the portfolio sector suffer.

Nevertheless, the World Bank said Indonesia’s economy was likely to be corrected if China and India’s economy fell in response to crises in Europe and the US. The World Bank issues a warning to be cautious about commodity price increases.

“The worst scenario is that the local economic growth only reaches 4.1 percent by 2012,” said the World Bank’s economic head in Indonesia, Shubham Chaudhuri, yesterday.

Shubham stressed that the global crisis would deeply impact developing countries. However, he said, Indonesia’s economic growth would not drop much as it is supported by strong local consumption. Countries like Malaysia and Thailand are threatened because their growth is much more dependent on exports. “Indonesia is in a better position to manage the crisis,” he added.

The World Bank suggested the government be consistent and remain calm to prevent market turmoil. It also called on the government to anticipate the worst scenario. “Prepare a contingency plan. Review Bank Indonesia and the government’s crisis protocol,” he said.

Destry Damayanti, Bank Mandiri’s economist chief, stressed the impacts from the European crisis in the real sector could be controlled because Indonesia has various export markets other than the European Union and the US. Indonesia’s export market is supported by energy, crude palm oil, coffee and tobacco exports. “But we must consider the indirect impacts,” she added.

Bank Indonesia’s spokesman, Difi Ahmad Johansyah, said the central bank continued to guard the market and ensure the stability of the exchange rate.