Oil/gas imports rose US$127.6 million or 1.24 percent and non-oil/non-gas imports grew US$275 million or 2.3 percent, BPS Chief Suhariyanto said in a press briefing here on Monday.
"The position in March 2018 is better than in January and February. Nearly 83 percent of our imports comprises non-oil/non-gas commodities," he said.
He attributed the increase in oil/gas imports to a US$91.4 million or 8.27 percent rise in oil imports and a US$21.3 million or 10.82 percent hike in gas imports. However, crude imports fell US$85.1 million or 9.22 percent.
Non-oil/non-gas imports in March 2018 were recorded at US$12.23 billion, up 2.30 percent compared to February 2018 or 11.08 percent compared to March 2017.
Machines and mechanical appliances recorded the highest increase among imported non-oil/non-gas commodities, reaching US$286.90 million or 14.84 percent. Meanwhile, machines and electrical appliances saw the biggest decline of US$153.1 million or 9.19 percent.
Nearly 27.30 percent or US$10.16 billion of the total imports in March 2018 came from China, US$4.33 billion or 11.64 percent from Japan, and US$2.57 billion or 6.89 percent from Thailand.
Imports from ASEAN member states and European Union countries made up 20.84 percent and 9.41 percent of the total imports respectively.
Reported by Vicki Febrianto
(T.S012/A/KR-BSR/S012)
Reporter: antara
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2018
