Economist at UOB Group Enrico Tanuwidjaja and Junior Economist Agus Santoso comment on the latest trade balance release in Indonesia.
Indonesia recorded a higher trade surplus due to a larger decline in imports. The latest trade surplus of USD3.5bn in Jun 2023 accelerated from USD0.4bn in May and came in higher than consensus expectation of USD1.4bn.
Oil and gas (OG) exports continued to fall by 18.6% y/y, larger than previous month and non-oil and gas (non-OG) exports fell by 21.4% y/y, reversing from previous month growth of 1.9% y/y.
OG imports contracted by 39.5% y/y, a drop sharply from May's contraction of 6.5%. Non-OG imports also contracted by 13.9% y/y in Jun, a sharp turnaround from May’s growth of 18.9% y/y, underpinned by a large drop in capital goods in the form of (E&E) and machinery product.