Quarter I 2020, Bengkulu Province Economy Grows by 3.82 Percent

Covid-19 pandemics occur in more than 200 countries around the world, including Indonesia. In fact, at the end of March 2020, Bengkulu Province was included in the red zone. The biggest impact of Covid-19 is disrupting the process of production, distribution, and consumption due to the level and scheme of virus transmission that attacks the most fundamental aspects of all our activities, namely physical interaction between humans and forcing us to apply social / social distancing policies. As the main instrument driving economic activity, this will certainly have an impact. This is illustrated in the halt in the economic rate of the first quarter of 2020 Bengkulu Province.

The economy of Bengkulu Province in the first quarter of 2020 measured based on Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) based on current prices reached Rp 18.47 trillion and based on constant 2010 prices reached Rp 11.81 trillion. The economy of Bengkulu Province in the first quarter of 2020 (y-o-y) grew by 3.82 percent, slowing down when compared to the first quarter of 2019 which grew 5.08 percent. From the production side, the highest growth was achieved by the business of providing accommodation and food and drink by 9.80 percent and financial services by 13.73 percent. While in terms of expenditure, the highest growth was achieved in exports of goods and services by 10.70 percent.

Bengkulu Province economy in the first quarter of 2020 (q-to-q) experienced a contraction of 0.15 percent compared to quarter IV-2019. From the production side, the highest growth was achieved by the financial services business by 7.54 percent. In terms of expenditure the highest growth was in the household consumption expenditure component of 0.34 percent.

The economic structure of Bengkulu Province in the first quarter of 2020 was still dominated by the fields of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries by 28.13 percent; wholesale and retail trade, car and motorcycle repair by 15.27 percent; and government administration, defense and compulsory social security at 9.79 percent. While from the expenditure side, it was still dominated by household consumption expenditure components and imported goods and services, respectively 63.44 percent and 58.86 percent.