Indonesia’s trade surplus recovers after Ramadan

Trucks drive past stacks of containers at the Tanjung Priok port in Jakarta, Indonesia, February 3, 2023. (Photo: Reuters)

Hanoi (VNA) - Indonesia's trade surplus in April increased from the previous month, with imports softening due to less production activities during the holiday of Ramadan, according to a poll conducted by Reuters.

According to the analysis of 14 economists in the survey, the trade surplus in April likely increased to 3.38 billion USD from 2.91 billion USD in March.

The Southeast Asian nation has been recording monthly trade surpluses since mid-2020, but economists have said it is likely to shrink this year as some commodity prices fall due to weakening global demand.

Economists in the poll predicted that April exports drop 18.55% on an annual basis due to high base effects, which will be a deeper contraction from 11.33% in the previous month.

The month’s imports were also seen declining 7.85% from the same period last year.

Faisal Rachman from Bank Mandiri said exports were seen declining in April due to less working days compared to the same month last year, which had Ramadan holiday in May.

He expected trade surplus will continue shrinking going forward as exports are expected to continue easing./.