15-5-2024 (JAKARTA) Indonesia posted a trade surplus of $3.56 billion in April, exceeding expectations slightly due to lower-than-anticipated imports, according to data released by the statistics bureau on Wednesday.
Economists surveyed by Reuters had predicted a surplus of $3.30 billion, while the actual figure for March stood at $4.47 billion. Despite the positive numbers, Southeast Asia’s largest economy has witnessed a consistent trade surplus each month since May 2020, though the margin has been decreasing amid weakening export performance.
For over a year, Indonesia’s exports have suffered from declining commodity prices and a slowdown in global trade. In April, exports increased by 1.72 per cent year-on-year to $19.62 billion, falling short of the 4.57 per cent growth anticipated by economists. Nevertheless, this marks Indonesia’s first export growth in 11 months.
The value of coal exports, Indonesia’s most significant export commodity, dropped by 19.26 per cent annually to $2.61 billion in April, despite an increase in export volumes. This decline was attributed to falling global coal prices.
On the import side, there was a 4.62 per cent increase to $16.06 billion, which was lower than the 8.69 per cent rise forecasted by economists.
