Indonesia's economy grew more slowly than expected last year, official data showed Wednesday, and officials warned the country's lucrative tourism sector faced a negative impact from a drop in Chinese tourists owing to the deadly coronavirus.
Southeast Asia's biggest economy expanded 5.02 per cent, down from the 5.17 per cent the previous year, owing to weakness in exports and softer manufacturing output.
The figures also missed forecasts for a 5.3 per cent expansion.
In December, the World Bank warned that forest fires which raged across Indonesia last year hit the economy to the tune of some USD 5.2 billion.
The country was also grappling with slumping prices for key commodities such as coal and palm oil, as well as the effects of a China-US trade war which has roiled economies around the world.
"Sustaining growth in a 5.0 per cent range in the current environment isn't easy," statistics agency head Suhariyanto, who goes by one name, told reporters in Jakarta.
"So I think achieving 5.02 per cent during a global economic slowdown is quite good."
"And we have no clarity as well on how soon they can or will return."