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Exports to stay weak in 2017: Minister
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Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati speaks to the media after her inauguration at the State Palace in Jakarta on July 27. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati does not expect a trade surplus in 2017 on account of gloomy global economic conditions.
The minister, who just arrived from the G20 Summit in China, said many countries were preparing for an efficiency phase.
"Even China allocated 60 percent of its budget to regional governments not to enhance the regional economy but to close down steel companies," she said during a meeting with House of Representatives Commission XI overseeing finance and banking affairs on Wednesday.
At the hearing, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) stated Indonesia still had a US US$4 billion trade surplus from previous years, but in 2016 year-to-date, the negative trade balance was deeper than in 2015.
"We still rely on the three-biggest export markets, the US (12 percent of total exports), China (10 percent of total exports), and Japan (10 percent of total exports)," BPS balance sheet and statistical analysis head Kecuk Suhariyanto said.
For the next year, international trade cannot be expected, he added. (bbn)
