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Indonesia: Trade Balance Indonesia: $900 Million Surplus in June 2016
Indonesia: Trade Balance Indonesia: $900 Million Surplus in June 2016
Fri, 15 July 2016 – Indonesia’s latest trade data beat forecasts by quite a distance. According to Statistics Indonesia (BPS), Indonesia’s trade balance recorded a monthly surplus of USD $900.2 million in June 2016. Previously, median forecasts expected a USD $300 million surplus. Meanwhile, the nation’s trade surplus more than doubled in June from the monthly surplus in the preceding month, supported by strong exports of electronics, auto parts, finished garments, and rubber products. Despite this positive result, there remain some concerns.
Although Indonesia’s trade surplus has grown to USD $3.59 billion in the first half of 2016, Southeast Asia’s largest economy has seen its exports and imports contract for the past 21 months. Exports have been declining due to weak global demand and low commodity prices, while imports have been on the decline due to slowing economic growth in Indonesia (this causes a drop in domestic demand for imports of capital goods as well as consumer goods). However, as imports have been dropping more severely than exports, Indonesia has seen a trade surplus since 2015. Read More?