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Minister to look into increase in oil and gas imports in August
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Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati. (Antara/Sigid Kurniawan)
F
inance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has said that she wants to look into the reason for the increase in oil imports in August, one month before the Sept. 1 implementation of the mandatory use of 20 percent blended biodiesel (B20).
“Oil and gas imports were still high, which resulted in trade still being in deficit. Therefore, we will look into the implementation of the B20 policy and the increase in oil and gas imports. We want to know if it a trend or an anomaly,” Sri Mulyani said in Jakarta on Monday as reported by kompas.com.
She said she would coordinate with Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution, State-Owned Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan and representatives of state-owned oil and gas holding company Pertamina and Bank Indonesia.
Statistics Indonesia (BPS) announced on Monday that it had recorded a US$1.02 billion trade deficit in August, almost half of July's $2.03 billion trade deficit.
The August trade deficit was mostly a result of the increase in oil and gas imports. Total imports in August reached $16.84 billion -- $3.05 billion for oil and gas and $13.79 million from the non-oil and gas sector. Oil and gas imports increased by 14.5 percent in August, compared to $2.66 billion in July.
Exports decreased 2.9 percent to $15.82 billion in August -- $1.38 billion from oil and gas and $14.43 billion from non-oil and gas.
The oil and gas trade deficit reached $1.66 billion. (bbn)
