Indonesia trade surplus increases in February
Article continues below
The trade surplus came in at USD 1.3 billion, above February 2016’s USD 1.1 billion. The surplus beat market expectations of a USD 1.2 billion result, but was down slightly from January’s figure.
Looking at the details, exports posted strong growth of 11.2% over the same month last year, which followed January’s 27.9% surge.
Non-oil and gas exports, which account for the majority of Indonesian shipments, rose 11.5% in February, which was below January’s 29.4% increase.
Meanwhile, oil and gas exports grew for a second consecutive month, expanding 7.6%, after over two years of contractions (January: +14.8% year-on-year). Import growth eased from 14.3% in January to 10.6% in February.
Meanwhile, the 12-month moving sum of the trade balance improved from a USD 10.3 billion surplus in January to a USD 10.4 billion surplus in February.
FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast panelists expect exports to increase 1.4% and see the trade balance recording a surplus of USD 10.5 billion in 2017.
For 2018, the panel expects exports to grow 3.0% and expects the trade surplus to drop to USD 9.9 billion. ■