JAKARTA ~ The central government expects the impact of the global economic downturn on the domestic economy to dissipate this year, a minister said this week.

Gross domestic product should grow by a lower than previously expected four percent in 2009 as exports, imports and domestic demand plunge, Planning and Development Minister Paskah Suzetta said.

But a US$6-billion stimulus plan and the underlying strength of domestic demand should help steer Southeast Asia’s biggest economy away from the negative growth experienced in neighbors like Singapore and Thailand.

“The effect on Indonesia of the economic crisis should end in 2009 as the fiscal stimulus is being set in motion to increase domestic consumption,” the minister told reporters.

“I am sure that our economic growth will reach four percent” this year.

The stimulus is made up mostly of tax incentives to boost purchasing power and investment.

Indonesia’s economy grew 6.1 percent last year. The finance ministry’s official growth forecast for 2009 is 4.5 percent.