The FINANCIAL — Indonesia’s trade surplus narrowed to $450 million in April from a revised $1.03 billion in March owing to higher oil and gas imports, the official statistics agency said on May 15, according to Nasdaq.
The median forecast of 10 economists polled by The Wall Street Journal was for a surplus of $168 million.
Indonesia has been running a trade surplus in the first four months of the year, a positive development as the country tries to plug a current-account deficit.
Indonesia’s exports reached $13.08 billion in April, falling 4.04% from a month earlier, due to lower coal prices. Total exports fell 8.46% from a year earlier.
Imports rose 0.16% on month to $12.63 billion as oil and gas imports rose 3.0%. From a year earlier, total imports fell 22.31%.
Southeast Asia’s largest economy has had a deficit in its current account in the past three years as growth in China, Indonesia’s single largest buyer of coal and minerals, sputtered.
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