JAKARTA, Feb 27 (NNN-ANTARA) – Indonesia’s trade balance in Jan experienced a fairly high surplus of 1.96 billion U.S. dollars, Minister of Trade, Muhammad Lutfi, said in a statement yesterday.
“We are starting 2021 quite well. The performance of Indonesia’s foreign trade balance continues the trend of monthly surplus that has occurred since May 2020,” the minister noted.
According to him, the ministry recorded the Jan, 2021 trade surplus with the export value of 15.30 billion U.S. dollars, and the import value of 13.34 billion U.S. dollars.
The commodities contributing to the surplus included animal and vegetable oils, mineral fuels and footwear, he said, adding, Indonesia’s biggest trading partner countries contributing to the non-oil and non-gas trade surplus in Jan were the United States, India, the Philippines, Japan, and Malaysia.
“Indonesia’s trade balance surplus in Jan, 2021, is better than that in Jan, 2019, which experienced a deficit of 1.0 billion U.S. dollars and that in Jan, 2020, which suffered a deficit of 0.6 billion U.S. dollars,” he said.
Lutfi explained that in Jan, 2021, Indonesia’s export performance reached 15.3 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 12 percent compared to that in the same month of the previous year.
He further said, non-oil and non-gas exports in Jan, 2021, increased by 12.5 percent compared to that in the same period of the previous year.
Meanwhile, Indonesia’s import value in Jan, 2021, was recorded at 13.34 billion U.S. dollars, a decrease of 7.59 percent compared to Dec, 2020.
The weakening performance of Indonesia’s imports in Jan, 2021, was mainly driven by a nine percent decline in non-oil and non-gas imports, he said.– NNN-ANTARA
