Jakarta – Indonesia recorded year-on-year growth of 3.47 percent in the third quarter and full-year growth is likely to at least match this, the Central Bureau of Statistics said Thursday.

The bureau said gross domestic product (GDP) in July-September grew 2.38 percent from the second quarter largely thanks to domestic consumption, which rose 3.43 percent over the second quarter.

Bureau chief Sudarti Surbakti said full-year growth was unlikely to be below 3.47 percent, which is close to the official target of 3.5 percent for this year.

Exports were down 7.13 percent from the previous quarter but up 6.57 percent year-on-year, while imports fell 14.87 percent quarter-on-quarter and were down 1.71 percent year-on-year.

On the production side, all sectors posted growth in the third quarter compared to the second.

Bureau deputy chairman Kusmadi Saleh said the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington would hit full-year growth.

"Without the incidents, we should [have been] able to see four percent growth this year and even higher in coming years," Saleh said. "But I hope a four percent growth can achieved next year." The revised 2002 budget assumes GDP growth of 4.0 percent next year.

Indonesia has been hit less hard than many neighbouring countries by the US economic slowdown. Its export earnings are less reliant on electronics and more on lower-end manufacturing and commodities.

Song Seng Wun, regional economist with GK Goh Stockbrokers, said third-quarter growth was stronger than expected, with the external slowdown and falling oil prices appearing to have had very little impact.

To some extent, Song said the figures appear to be "exaggerated." "It looks like Indonesia is set to be the strongest compared to other economies this year but I am wondering what the basis for the resilience is," he told AFX-Asia, an AFP affiliate.

Song said the fall in exports in the third quarter was quite severe and should have dragged down overall growth, despite the sharp fall in imports. "But it was still surprising. It appears there was no impact at all from the fall in exports," he said.

Moreover, he said weakening external demand and falling oil prices did not have a material impact at all on the GDP. "Some may argue about last year's lower base. But even on a quarter-on-quarter basis it looks unusually strong," he said.