Indonesia’s Dec trade surplus shrinks more than expected

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s trade surplus narrowed more than expected to $3.89 billion in December as export growth weakened while imports slumped, data from the statistics bureau showed on Monday.

A Reuters poll had expected a surplus of $4.01 billion in December.

The surplus in November was worth $5.16 billion. Exports from the resource-rich country rose 6.58% on a yearly basis to $23.83 billion, roughly in line with the poll’s forecast of a 6.65% increase.

Imports declined 6.61% on a yearly basis, the biggest drop in two years, to $19.94 billion, compared with the poll’s prediction for a 7.58% drop.

Southeast Asia’s largest economy saw an export boom for most of 2022 fueled by high global commodity prices.

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But export growth slowed later in the year as prices moderated.

For all of 2022, exports were worth $291.98 billion, a historic high for annual shipments and 26.07% higher than in 2021. Imports last year were worth $237.52 billion, up 21.07% from the year before.