Indonesia seen posting trade surplus in November

December 13, 2017, 04.11 PM  | Reporter: Barratut Taqiyyah Rafie
Indonesia seen posting trade surplus in November


MACROECONOMICS - JAKARTA. Indonesia is expected to post a trade surplus for the fourth straight month in November, a Reuters poll showed, as demand from Southeast Asia is seen to have propped up exports.

The median forecast of 12 analysts in the poll was for a surplus of $920 million, slightly up from a $900 million surplus in October.

Exports are seen rising 13.01 percent on year in November, compared with 18.39 percent in October.

Manufacturing activity indicators suggested that demand from Southeast Asian countries helped push up exports from Indonesia last month, despite a mild slowdown in some of the country's main shipping destinations such as China and the U.S., said Josua Pardede, an economist with Bank Permata in Jakarta.

"We see (trade) still grows positively because of manufacturing in ASEAN," Pardede said.

Southeast Asian nations accounted for around 20 percent of Indonesian non-oil and gas trades in January to October, according to data from the statistics bureau.

Imports in November are seen growing 13.16 percent on year compared with a growth of 23.33 percent the previous month.

Imports in October beat market expectations of 16 percent annual growth, boosted by raw material demand from local manufacturers.

Editor: Barratut Taqiyyah Rafie

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