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Jokowi faces herculean task of boosting export as trade war escalates
Indonesia recorded a trade deficit of US$63 million in July, a reversal from a June trade surplus of around $300 million.
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A crane lifts lumber for export onto a cargo vessel at a port. Indonesia's exports in July declined 5.12 percent year-on-year (yoy) to US$15.45 billion. (Reuters/Stringer)
G
overnment efforts to take advantage of the trade war failed miserably as exports remain sluggish and foreign investments went to more attractive regional peers such as Vietnam, adding to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s already heavy workload.
Indonesia recorded a trade deficit of US$63 million in July, a reversal from a June trade surplus of around $300 million. The country’s balance of trade has maintained a negative trend overall from January to July with a deficit of $1.9 billion, which is still an improvement from the minus $3.21 billion it recorded during the same period last year.
Shipments to its main export destinations have decreased against the backdrop of the escalating trade war that has pushed China’s economic growth to a 27-year low, the US to the brink of recession and triggered contraction in Western Europe’s largest economy, Germany.
“This export downturn is because of highly fluctuating prices of some commodities, which unfortunately are the raw commodities most reliable for Indonesia,” Statistics Indonesia (BPS) head Suhariyanto told a press conference on Thursday.
Exports in July declined 5.12 percent year-on-year (yoy) to $15.45 billion.
Shipments of Indonesian products to China, the United States and Japan, the country’s main destinations, fell during the period from January to July, according to Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data published Thursday.
Exports to China, which mainly consist of coal and crude palm oil, dropped 5.65 percent yoy to $13.68 billion compared. Shipments to the US dropped 1.88 percent to $9.92 billion, and exports to Japan dropped 18.37 percent to $7.91 billion.
