Indonesia Books Trade Surplus for 38 Months in a Row
Jakarta, Indonesianpost.com – Indonesia posted a $3.45 billion trade surplus in June as imports saw a double-digit decline, according to the National Statistics Agency (BPS).
“This makes it the 38th consecutive month that Indonesia booked a trade surplus since May 2020,” Atqo Mardiyanto, the chief secretary at BPS, told a media briefing on Monday.
BPS data shows the June numbers were a huge jump from the $430 million surplus in the previous month. However, it still could not beat the $5.14 billion trade surplus that Indonesia booked in June 2022.
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Indonesia’s accumulated surplus throughout the first six months of 2023 amounted to $19.93 billion. This, however, marks a $5.06 billion or 20.24 percent decline from the $24.99 billion recorded over the same period last year.
Indonesia’s overall imports dropped 19.4 percent from $21.28 billion in May to $17.15 billion the following month as Indonesia purchased less raw materials. Imports also shrank 18.35 percent from $21 billion in June 2022. About $14.93 billion of what Indonesia imported last month came from the non-oil and gas sector. Chinese goods accounted for 32.51 percent of Indonesia’s non-oil and gas imports in June.
“Indonesia exported $20.61 billion in goods, down by 5.08 percent from [$21.71 billion in] May 2023. Our non-oil and gas exports totaled $19.34 billion last month,” Atqo said.
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Trade with India, the US, and the Philippines became the biggest contributors to the June surplus. Indonesia saw its largest surplus in the non-oil and gas sector with India, reaching $1.24 billion last month. Animal fats and oil, mineral fuels, as well as precious metals, jewelry, and gems mostly spurred the surplus with New Delhi. Indonesia’s surplus with the US and the Philippines reached $1.19 billion and $827 million, respectively.
“Our deficit [in the non-oil and gas sector] was the highest with Australia [$529.6 million], Thailand [$350.4 million], and Germany [$308.1 million]. Our imports of cereals, mineral fuels, sugars, and sugar confectionery were what mainly fueled the deficit with Australia,” Atqo said.