The Indonesian trade balance again recorded a surplus in February 2015, its third straight month to do so, but this came as both imports and exports slumped during the period.
The Southeast Asian country posted a higher-than-expected surplus amounting to $740 million for the month, which Bank Indonesia said is relatively stable compared to the US$750 million surplus noted in January.
The surplus was underpinned by surplus oil and gas as well as non-oil and gas accounts, it added.
“The oil and gas trade surplus totalled US$0.17 billion, representing a great improvement on the US$0.03 billion deficit documented in the previous period,” said the central bank in a release.
An 18.7% decline in oil and gas import growth, exceeding the 8.8% drop in exports, led to the oil and gas trade surplus, said BI.
Moreover, a decrease in imports of crude oil and oil derivatives precipitated the decline in oil and gas imports. Meanwhile, oil and gas exports also slumped due to fewer exports of oil derivatives and gas.
Although not quite as impressive as the previous month, the non-oil/gas trade balance maintained a surplus of US$0.57 billion in February 2015, added the financial regulator.
Non-oil and gas exports slid 7.8%, primarily affecting exports of jewelry and gems, footwear, mineral fuels, as well as animal and vegetable fats and oils. Conversely, exports of motor vehicles and their component parts enjoyed positive growth.
Meanwhile, non-oil and gas imports declined 6.3% due to diminishing imports of machinery and mechanical equipment, electrical equipment as well as iron and steel.
In the official release signed by BI Tirta Segara, executive director of the Department of Communication, Bank Indonesia said it expects the “promising trade performance achieved in February 2015 to favourably affect current account performance in the first quarter of 2015.”
It further predicts the trade structure of Indonesia to “become increasingly sound moving forward, thereby supporting the external balance recovery process.”
The latest official statistics from Statistics Indonesia, meantime, showed the country’s exports fell 8% to $12.29 billion in February this year from $13.36 billion in January 2015. This is also a slide downward by 16.02% year-over-year.
On the other hand, imports slid 8.42% to $11.55 billion in February from $12.61 billion in January. February import figures are also 16.24% lower than from a year earlier.
Photo: Caroline Gredler, USAID
