September 2023 Trade Balance Surplus of 3.42 Billion US Dollars, BKF Ministry of Finance: RI's External Sector Performance is Well Maintained

JAKARTA - Indonesia's trade balance in September 2023 recorded a surplus of 3.42 billion United States (US) dollars.

Meanwhile, cumulatively from January to September 2023, the trade balance surplus was recorded at 27.75 billion US dollars.

Thus, Indonesia has experienced a trade surplus for 41 consecutive months.

Head of the Fiscal Policy Agency (BKF) of the Ministry of Finance, Febrio Nathan Kacaribu, said that Indonesia's trade balance was still recording a surplus amidst the trend of moderating commodity prices and slowing global economic growth performance.

"This shows that Indonesia's external sector performance is still strong and we will continue to maintain it in the future," he said in his official statement, Tuesday, October 17.

According to Febrio, even though it is still recording a surplus, Indonesia's international trade activity has decreased in line with the trend of moderating global commodity prices and the economic slowdown in a number of major trading partner countries.

Among other things, the prices of several of Indonesia's main export commodities, such as palm oil, coal, and nickel, experienced a significant decline compared to last year.

On the other hand, the World Bank estimates that global commodity prices in 2023 will moderate by 21.2 percent compared to 2022 as a result of increasing geopolitical tensions and the weakening of China, according to its report in Commodity Market Outlook 2023.

Meanwhile, the export value in September 2023 was recorded at 20.76 billion US dollars, experiencing a contraction of 16.17 percent (yoy) from last year's high base, especially in the industrial and mining sectors. Cumulatively, the export value for the period January to September 2023 reached 192.27 billion US dollars.

Meanwhile, Indonesia's import value was recorded at 17.34 billion US dollars, down 12.45 percent compared to the same period last year.

The decline in import value occurred in raw/auxiliary materials and capital goods, while imports of consumer goods still grew by 4.74 percent (yoy).

Cumulatively, imports for the period January to September 2023 were recorded at 164.52 billion US dollars.

Febrio said that the decline in the value of exports and imports was not only experienced by Indonesia, but also occurred in many of Indonesia's main trading partner countries, such as China, India, the United States, Vietnam, and South Korea, in line with the global economic slowdown trend.

According to Febrio, although the value of exports has decreased, in terms of volume, Indonesia's exports still show an increase of 7.29 percent during the period January to September 2023.

Where the volume of Indonesia's leading exports, such as mineral fuels including coal, animal or vegetable oils, steel, and nickel, is still increasing quite significantly.

Febrio said, in facing the challenges of an increasingly complex global slowdown, the government remains optimistic and committed to overcoming the impact of the global slowdown.

One of the strategies implemented is to closely monitor the impact of the global slowdown on national exports.

"The government has also prepared anticipatory steps by encouraging the sustainability of natural resource downstreaming, increasing the competitiveness of national export products, and diversifying main trading partners," he said.