Indonesia attracts more foreign direct investment in Q2

[JAKARTA] The flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) into Indonesia increased significantly in the second quarter from the tiny gain in the first three months of 2017, the investment board said on Wednesday.

On an annual basis and in rupiah terms, FDI increased 10.6 per cent in the April-June quarter. Growth in the first quarter was just one per cent.

The amount of incoming FDI to South-east Asia's largest economy, excluding investment in banking and the oil and gas sectors, was 109.9 trillion rupiah (S$11.2 billion) in the second quarter or about US$8.2 billion, the board's deputy chairman Azhar Lubis said.

The board used a rupiah exchange rate of 13,300 a US dollar, the same as assumed for the average in the 2017 state budget. That compares with the rupiah's spot trading rate on Wednesday morning of 13.332 per US dollar.

For the first quarter, Indonesia reported 97 trillion rupiah of FDI.

In US dollar terms, FDI into Indonesia in the second quarter was up 15.5 per cent from the same period last year. In April-June 2016, FDI amounted to US$7.2 billion.

REUTERS