Indonesia trade surplus widens slightly in Feb, near expectation

[JAKARTA] Indonesia's trade surplus widened slightly in February, with exports continuing to rise while imports grew for the first time since June 2019 due to low base effect, data from the country's statistics bureau showed on Monday.

February's surplus was US$2.01 billion, compared with a US$2.21 billion surplus expected in a Reuters poll and a US$1.96 billion surplus a month earlier.

Exports grew 8.56 per cent on a yearly basis to US$15.27 billion, a touch slower than the poll's forecast of 8.73 per cent, supported by shipments of steel, coal and copper, among other products.

Imports rose 14.86 per cent year-on-year to US$13.26 billion, faster than the 12.60 per cent forecast in the poll.

REUTERS