The Economy Grows 5.72 Percent In The Third Quarter, Trade Minister Zulhas Tanjung, An Export And Services Contribution That Increases 21.64 Percent

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan said Indonesia's economic growth in the third quarter of 2022 grew positively 5.72 percent. He said, this achievement could not be separated from the support of increasing national export performance. Zulhas, as Zulkifli Hasan is familiarly called, said that export growth continues to be the driving force of the Indonesian economy. In this period, economic growth supported by exports of goods and services rose by 21.64 percent on an annual basis or year on year (yoy) with a contribution reaching 26.23 percent, increasing from the contribution in the second quarter with a percentage of 24.74 percent. "In the third quarter of 2022, Indonesia's economic performance continued to improve during 2022. In the third quarter of 2022, Indonesia's economy grew positively higher than the achievement in the first quarter of 5.02 percent and the second quarter of which grew 5.45 percent. This growth in Indonesia's economic growth is of course also supported by an increase in national export performance," he said in an official statement, Wednesday, November 9. Based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), in terms of expenditure, the export component of goods and services experienced growth of 21.64 percent, the second highest after importing goods and services grew 22.98 percent. The increase in export performance this year was influenced by several factors. One of them is the phenomenon of increasing world export commodity prices (supercycle commodity). In addition, said Zulhas, improvements in domestic industry performance as reflected in the improvement in the Purchasing Manager Index (PMI) figure of the Indonesian manufacturing industry also contributed to the export of Indonesian manufaktur up to the third quarter of 2022 with a contribution reaching 46.21 percent of total Indonesia's exports. "Some commodities that experienced an increase in prices in 2022 include coal, palm oil, nickel, and coffee," he said. Meanwhile, for Indonesia's manufacturing PMI numbers, Zulhas said, it was recorded to always be above 50, even in September reaching the highest figure throughout 2022, namely 53.7.

According to Zulhas, the value of Indonesia's exports in the third quarter was the highest quarter export value over the past two years. In the third quarter of 2022, Indonesia's total exports reached 78.20 billion US dollars, experiencing an annual increase of 27.30 percent. This performance was supported by non-oil and gas exports which reached 73.84 billion US dollars with growth of 26.28 percent. "Indonesia's non-oil and gas export main product in the third quarter of 2022 was mineral fuel (HS 27), animal or vegetable fat and oil (HS 15), iron and steel (HS 72), electric machinery and equipment (HS 85), as well as vehicles and parts (HS 87)," he said. Especially for coal (HS 27), said Zulhas, in the third quarter it was recorded to increase rapidly from 8.84 billion US dollars in the third quarter of 2021 to 15.72 billion US dollars in the third quarter of 2022. From the destination side, Zulhas continued, Indonesia's non-oilhas export performance also recorded a positive performance towards major trading partner countries. China still occupies the first position as an Indonesian trading partner country with an export value of 17.34 billion US dollars in the third quarter of 2022. Zulhas said, the export value contributed 23.49 percent of Indonesia's non-oil and non-oil exports in the third quarter of 2022 and experienced an increase of 29.70 percent. "In addition to China, exports to India also grew rapidly in the third quarter by probing a value of 6.48 billion US dollars or grew by 61.18 percent," he said. Zulhas said. Zulhas said although Indonesia's export performance shows good performance, the Ministry of Trade still is wary of the economic slowdown that has already occurred in several Indonesian trading partners. Such trading partner countries include Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and European Union. "In mitigating the risk of such slowdown, the Ministry of Trade has carried out a number of strategic steps, including increasing access to the export market to non-traditional markets, particularly in the African, South Asia, and Middle East regions both through promotions, trade missions, as well as work agreements," he said.