Indonesia's Payment Balance Surplus 8.6 Billion US Dollars In The Fourth Quarter Of 2023

JAKARTA - Bank Indonesia (BI) recorded the performance of the Indonesia Payment Balance (NPI) in the fourth quarter of 2023 recorded a surplus of 8.6 billion US dollars, a significant increase compared to the previous quarter's performance which recorded a deficit of 1.5 billion US dollars.

Executive Director, Head of the BI Communication Department Erwin Haryono conveyed that Indonesia's Payment Balance (NPI) performance in the fourth quarter of 2023 improved so as to support Indonesia's external resilience.

Meanwhile, the NPI surplus was supported by an increasing surplus of capital and financial transactions and a low current account deficit.

Erwin added that current transactions noted that the low deficit was supported by improving global demand and commodity prices amid increasing the domestic economy.

"Transactions recorded a deficit of 1.3 billion US dollars or 0.4 percent of GDP, slightly increasing compared to the deficit of 1.0 billion US dollars or 0.3 percent of GDP in the previous quarter," he explained in his official statement Thursday, February 22.

Erwin said that the maintained running transaction performance came from an increasing balance surplus in goods trading, supported by an increase in exports of goods in line with improvements in global demand and commodity prices.

On the other hand, imports of goods also increased in line with the increasing needs of the community during the Christmas and New Year National Religious Holidays (HBKN) period.

In addition, the service balance deficit and the primary income balance were also recorded to be higher, in line with the increase in domestic activity and the pattern of interest payments in the reporting period.

The performance of capital and financial transactions has increased in line with the easing of global financial market uncertainty. Capital and financial transactions recorded a significant improvement, from a deficit of 0.1 billion US dollars in the third quarter of 2023 to a surplus of 9.8 billion US dollars in the fourth quarter of 2023.

"This positive performance is mainly supported by the flow of portfolio investments that have returned to the domestic financial market in line with the uncertainty of the global financial market which has begun to subside," he said.

According to Erwin, direct investment remains strong by posting a relatively stable surplus in line with investor optimism for the economic outlook and maintained domestic investment climate. Other investment transactions also recorded a surplus driven by the withdrawal of government and private loans.

In the future, Erwin said that Bank Indonesia will always pay close attention to the dynamics of the global economy that can affect the prospects for NPI and continue to strengthen the response of policy mixes supported by close policy synergies with the Government and relevant authorities to strengthen the resilience of the external sector.