Bank Indonesia on the 2022 Trade Balance Surplus: Supporting National Economic Recovery

Illustration (Photo: Doc. Pelindo)

JAKARTA - Bank Indonesia (BI) welcomes the achievement of a trade balance surplus in December 2022 of USD 3.89 billion. This positive score also extended the surplus trend since May 2022.

Head of the BI Communication Department Erwin Haryono said with these developments, Indonesia's trade balance in January-December 2022 as a whole recorded a surplus of USD 54.46 billion.

"This is much higher than the achievement in the same period in 2021 of USD 35.42 billion," he said when giving a written statement quoted on Tuesday, January 17.

According to Erwin, the trade balance surplus in December 2022 will come from the continuing non-oil and gas trade balance surplus, while the oil and gas trade balance deficit will slightly increase.

"Bank Indonesia views the trade balance surplus as contributing positively to maintaining the external resilience of the Indonesian economy and supporting national economic recovery," he stressed.

Erwin explained, The continued strong performance of non-oil and gas exports was mainly due to the increase in exports of natural resource-based commodities, such as nickel, metal ore and tin in line with the high global commodity prices.

In addition, exports of manufactured products, such as electrical machinery and equipment, as well as wood pulp, also recorded an increase.

"Based on destination countries, non-oil and gas exports to China, the United States, and India remain high and are the main contributors to Indonesia's total exports," he added.

Meanwhile, the oil and gas trade balance deficit increased slightly from USD 1.69 billion in November 2022 to USD 1.73 billion in December 2022.

"Going forward, Bank Indonesia will continue to strengthen policy synergies with the Government and policy authorities in order to further enhance external resilience and support national economic recovery," concluded Erwin.