REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The government should respond to the people's declining purchasing power following a drop in the first-quarter economic growth, Executive Director of Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (INDEF) Enny Sri Hartati stated.

"What is important is that there must be a short-term response to prevent the people's purchasing power from declining further. Regardless of whether we like it or not, the consumption sector drives our economic growth. If the consumption sector is disrupted, it will hinder the economic performance accordingly," she stated here on Wednesday.

The government needs to take effective steps to respond to the people's declining purchasing power, she affirmed.

The steps include ensuring the supply of goods and intervening in the market, so that they function properly, she revealed.

Several distortions such as those caused by cartels and hoarders should be monitored to ensure stable supply and distribution of goods, she remarked.

"If all these measures can be adopted, they will boost public consumption. If the public consumption does not drop drastically, (the economic growth) will rebound to 5 percent in the second quarter of 2015," she pointed out.

Consumption is one of the drivers of economic growth besides exports and investment, she noted.

However, consumption plays a greater role than the other two sectors as it has a direct impact on the economic growth, she said.

The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) announced on Tuesday that the Indonesian economy grew at a slower pace of 4.71 percent in the first quarter of 2015 as compared to 5.14 percent in the corresponding period last year.

"The economic growth of China as the export destination of Indonesian exports coupled with the low global oil prices and declining export and import performances have affected the economic performance in the first quarter," BPS Chairman Suryamin remarked during a press conference.

On the production side, the information and communication sector registered the highest growth, contributing 10.53 percent to the economic growth while household consumption grew 5.01 percent.

Compared to the previous quarter, the economic growth in the first quarter of 2015 fell 0.18 percent from 5.02 percent.

Bank Indonesia (BI) has forecast that the national economic growth will rebound in the second quarter of 2015 after contracting to 4.71 percent in the previous quarter.

"The government spending is expected to increase in the second quarter of 2015, and it will serve as a stimulus to boost economic growth," Executive Director of Communication Department at BI Tirta Segara noted here on Tuesday.

Segara has forecast that investment will also increase in the remaining three quarters along with increased government spending on infrastructure projects.

"This is in line with the progress report on the construction of various infrastructure projects," he said.

After all, the national economy still runs the risk of moving closer to the lower target limit of 5.4-5.8 percent this year, he affirmed.

The attainment of the economic growth target will depend on how quickly the government can realize various infrastructure projects besides ensuring strong consumption and gradually improving exports, he emphasized.

"BI will continue to monitor various internal and external developments to ensure that the national economy will grow in a healthy and sustainable way," he stated.

Segara noted that the lower economic growth in the first quarter of 2015 has confirmed various indicators monitored by BI in the past few months.

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