Indonesia has US$490m trade surplus in March

[JAKARTA] Indonesia's trade surplus shrank in March in line with expectations, with exports and imports both contracting for the 18th straight month, the statistics bureau said on Friday.

It reported a US$490 million deficit for last month. That compares with the US$1.14 billion trade surplus Southeast Asia's largest economy had in February and the median forecast in a Reuters survey for a March surplus of US$500 million.

Exports fell 13.51 per cent from a year earlier to US$11.79 billion. The poll forecast a drop of 14.04 per cent.

Imports declined 10.41 per cent on a yearly basis in March, to US$11.30 billion. The March decline was less than the forecasted 12.02 per cent.

REUTERS