JAKARTA: Indonesia posted a US$287 million balance of payment ( BoP ) deficit in the first quarter ( Q1 ) of this year, in contrast to a $1.3 billion surplus in the same period last year.
Bank Indonesia’s executive director of statistics, Hendi Sulistiowati, attributed the deficit to the company’s debt payments.
“The economic slowdown has caused lower domestic demand that has led business players to delay borrowing. It makes the outflows bigger than inflows,” she said.
A small surplus in the capital account, stocks and bonds, caused by significant outflows, could not compensate the deficit in the current account, she said.
Bank Indonesia data shows the surplus in the capital account in the first quarter reached $4.2 billion, lower than the $5 billion in the first quarter of last year and $9.8 billion in the fourth quarter of last year. The central bank announced that the lower figure was influenced by surplus decline in portfolio investments and foreign direct investments.
