Indonesian trade surplus narrows in July as exports decline for 23rd straight month

Indonesia’s trade surplus narrowed during the month of July, as exports declined for the 23rd straight month during the period, but at a pace slower than what markets had initially anticipated.

Indonesia's trade surplus narrowed to USD290 million in August from USD598.3 million in July as imports gained faster than exports, data released by the Central Statistics Agency showed Thursday. Our median forecast of 9 economists polled had called for a surplus of USD480 million.

On the other hand, imports fell 0.5 percent on year to USD12.34 billion, but expanded 36.8 percent from a month earlier. The country's total exports during the first eight months of the year fell 10.6 percent to USD91.73 billion from the same period last year, and imports shrank 9.42 percent to USD87.53 billion.

Further, the bureau said Indonesia exported USD12.63 billion worth of goods in August, down 0.74 percent from a year ago. A Reuters poll's median forecast was for an 8.80 percent decline.

Meanwhile, Sasmito Hadi Wibowo, Deputy Chairman at the agency, said that during the January-August period, imports of raw materials dropped to USD65.05 billion from USD72.96 billion a year ago, and those of capital goods fell to USD14.24 billion from USD16.95 billion because some could be produced in the country, reports confirmed.