We hope that in 2020, the trade balance deficit will get smaller and affect the current accountJakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia's trade balance in 2020 will register a surplus in accordance with the narrowing of the deficit at the end of 2019.
"At the end of 2019, trade performance shows a drastic improvement," Bank Indonesia Deputy Governor Dody Budi Waluyo remarked during the Annual Meeting of the Financial Services Industry in Jakarta on Thursday.
He is optimistic that the narrowing of the trade balance deficit at the end of 2019 will continue during 2020, as global economic pressures continue to allay.
At the end of 2019, the trade balance deficit will decline to US$3 billion as compared to $8.3 billion in 2018.
"This is since the reduction in the trade balance deficit is quite large, from $8.70 billion to around $3 billion," Waluyo noted.
Dody is upbeat about the global economic conditions improving in future to help boost commodity prices.
He pointed out that strengthening the value of trade balance will help improve the current account deficit to lie in the range of 2.5 to three percent of the gross domestic product as well as maintain the rupiah exchange rate.
"We hope that in 2020, the trade balance deficit will get smaller and affect the current account," he noted.
Based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the trade balance throughout 2019 experienced a deficit of $3.20 billion.
The deficit occurred in line with export performance during 2019 that reached $167.53 billion, or lower than the import performance at $170.72 billion.
"The deficit in 2019 is even smaller, almost a third of the deficit that occurred in 2018, which is $8.6 billion," BPS Chief Suhariyanto stated.
In December 2019, the trade balance experienced a deficit of $0.03 billion, or far lower than the deficit of $1.39 billion in November 2019.
The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) had earlier announced that Indonesia's trade balance deficit had dropped sharply in 2019, reaching $3.2 billion, with total exports of $167.53 billion in January-December 2019, and imports touching $170.72 billion.
"The deficit in 2019 is even lower, almost a third of the deficit in 2018 at $8.6 billion," BPS Head Suhariyanto remarked in Jakarta on Wednesday.
Suhariyanto expounded that the deficit occurred since the oil and gas trade balance yet recorded a surplus of $6 billion, but imports in 2019 had registered a deficit of $9.3 billion, contributed by the rising oil prices.
Indonesia's trade in 2019 experienced a surplus with several countries: the United States, India, and the Netherlands.
In the meantime, trade with several countries -- Australia, Thailand and China -- experienced a deficit.
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Translator: Indra Arief, Azis Kurmala
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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