ZCZC
BCN-24
INDONESIA-BANK-TRADE-DEFICIT
Indonesian central bank estimates trade deficit may surpass 3 pct of GDP
in Q3
JAKARTA, Oct. 27, 2018 (BSS/Xinhua) – Indonesia’s central bank, Bank
Indonesia (BI), estimated that the nation’s current account deficit may go
above 3 percent of GDP in the third quarter this year due to massive imports
of oil and gas in July and August.
BI Governor Perry Warjiyo said on Friday that trade surplus in September,
amounted 230 million U.S. dollars, was hardly able to cover the significant
deficit from oil and gas imports in the two previous months in the third
quarter.
“CAD (Current Account Deficit) above 3 percent from GDP was still normal.
We expect the CAD in the third quarter would be no higher than 3.5 percent,”
he said.
He added that positive results from the government’s policies to tackle
the CAD have started to occur in September.
The government has increased the prices of fuels, tax for certain imported
goods, expand the mix of biofuel in fuels and delayed less-urgent
infrastructure projects to address the swelling of CAD.
Through the concerted measures the BI expected that the CAD may decrease
to below 3 percent next year. Southeast Asia’s largest economy posted a 3
percent CAD that equals to 8 billion U.S. dollars in the second quarter. The
figure was higher than 2.2 percent, or 5.7 billion U.S. dollars recorded in
the first quarter this year.
BSS/XINHUA/HR/1445