Indonesia’s April trade balance improves on dip in imports

Indonesian trade balance for the month of April improved, with surplus posting USD670 million on account of dip in imports outpacing that of exports, the Statistics Bureau said in a statement on Monday. The country’s trade surplus surpassed a Reuters poll, showing estimated surplus at USD190 million, against March surplus of USD497 million.

However, exports too declined for the 19th straight month on year in April by 12.65 pct to USD11.45 billion. Meanwhile, imports shrank 14.62 pct to USD 10.78 billion. The fall in imports came from dip in commodity prices, which have hurt Indonesia’s overseas sales, thus reducing exports, which weighed on the purchasing power of the countrymen, taking a toll on imports, as well.

As the decline in imports has been deeper than exports at times, the overall trade balance has improved and the current account deficit has shrunk from few years ago. However, analysts had expected a slower pace of decline.