JAKARTA: Indonesia’s trade surplus was steady at $1.01 billion in October compared with $1.02 billion in September as imports remained weak, the official Central Statistics Agency said Monday. The surplus beat the median forecast for a $731 million surplus by 10 regional economists polled by The Wall Street Journal.
The agency said Indonesia’s exports reached $12.08 billion in October, falling 20.98% from a year earlier and dropping 4.0% from a month earlier. “Even though, export value dropped from a month earlier, our export volume rose 4.38%, meaning that demand for Indonesian products (improved),” the agency’s chairman, Suryamin, said.
On the other hand, imports fell faster by 27.81% from a year earlier to $11.07 billion and contracted 4.27% from a month earlier. The agency said natural gas imports slid 71.48% from a month earlier, while inward shipment of oil products fell 8.20% from a month earlier.
A healthy trade surplus will continue to improve Indonesia’s current account deficit. But, weak imports could indicate that industrial activity in Indonesia continued to languish.
