Indonesia pays price of protectionism as commodity exports sink

Jakarta

INDONESIA'S economy is losing out on commodity gains after lawmakers wrapped protectionist policies around the nation's resources. Their next problem: finding a lucrative replacement.

Commodities now account for about 40 per cent of all exports, down from almost 60 per cent five years ago, according to Morgan Stanley. They make up just 6 per cent of gross domestic product, half as much as in 2012, as trade restrictions worsened the impact of a price rout over much of that period. Crude oil and gas output has declined to levels last seen in the early 1970s.