Indonesia posts US$950m trade surplus in May

[JAKARTA] Indonesia posted a trade surplus of US$950 million for May, its sixth straight surplus, as imports continued to be weak, the statistics bureau reported on Monday.

Analysts in a Reuters poll had expected a surplus of US$410 million.

Imports in May were US$11.61 billion, down 21.40 per cent from a year ago. Exports were down 15.24 per cent at US$12.56 billion in the month. It was the eighth straight month that both imports and exports dropped.

Southeast Asia's largest economy has posted monthly trade surpluses since December albeit mostly small. April's surplus was US$454 million.

REUTERS