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Recovery in peril as machinery imports drop
Indonesia’s trade surplus plummeted by 61 percent to US$2.9 billion in May from the all-time high of $7.56 billion reached in April.
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Man and machine: A farmer uses a combine harvester on March 22, 2022, at his rice farm in Somba Opu district, Gowa regency, South Sulawesi. (Antara/Arnas Padda)
I
ndonesia's latest trade figures are a warning sign for domestic manufacturing industry, as overall imports are down 5 percent year-on-year (yoy), with machinery imports dropping particularly fast.
Data published by Statistics Indonesia (BPS) on Wednesday show that the country’s trade surplus plummeted 61 percent to US$2.9 billion in May, down from the all-time high of $7.56 billion reached in April.
Both exports and imports dropped, decreasing 21 percent month-to-month (mtm) to $21.51 billion and 5 percent mtm to $18.61 billion, respectively.
However, Indonesia's trade surplus was still up 7.4 percent when compared with May 2020.
Exports and imports increased 27 percent and 30.74 percent, respectively, over the past year.
May's trade surplus was lower than predicted by economists of state-owned Bank Mandiri, who had expected that exports would exceed imports by $5.01 billion, while the market consensus according to a Bank Mandiri survey was for a surplus of $3.46 billion.
