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Indonesia books US$1.02 billion trade deficit in August
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Statistics Indonesia head Suhariyanto (JP/Rachmadea Aisyah)
S
tatistics Indonesia (BPS) announced on Monday that Indonesia recorded a trade deficit of US$1.02 billion in August, mostly as a result of oil and gas imports.
The August trade deficit is half of the $2.03 billion deficit in July, Indonesia's highest in five years.
Exports decreased by 2.9 percent month-to-month (mtm) to $15.82 billion, with the mining sector contributing the most to the deficit at 13.58 percent.
Imports declined by 7.97 percent to $16.84 billion mtm, with decreases in imports for apples, cloves and automotive parts.
From January to August, the trade deficit amounted to $4.09 billion, with monthly surpluses only occurring in March and June.
BPS head Suhariyanto said that, even though non-oil and gas commodities booked a $639.6 million surplus in August, the deficit in the oil and gas sector was much bigger ($1.66 billion).
To cut its dependency on imports, including oil and gas, the government launched a presidential regulation that requires that all vehicles use B20 biodiesel. The regulation came into effect on Sept. 1 and is expected to save the country $5.9 billion in oil and gas imports annually.
“To balance it out, we hope that exports will also recover with all policies the government is currently implementing,” Suhariyanto said. (bbn)
