Indonesia's Q3 current account deficit narrows to 3.07% of GDP

[JAKARTA] Indonesia's current account deficit in the third quarter narrowed to 3.07 per cent of gross domestic product compared with 4.27 per cent in the second quarter and 3.9 per cent in July-September 2013, Bank Indonesia's governor said on Thursday.

Between June and November last year, Bank Indonesia raised its benchmark interest rate 175 basis points to shrink the then- ballooning current account deficit. The tightening has contributed to a slowdown in this year's economic growth rate.

The central bank said earlier it expects the current account gap for all of 2014 to be 3.2 per cent of GDP. It expects the deficit will narrow next year.

Details on Indonesia's third quarter balance of payments will be released on Friday.

REUTERS