Since the 1998 economic crisis, Indonesia has recorded a trade deficit three consecutive times during the 2012-2014 period. The financial crisis that hit the United States, the still-unimproved European economy, the decline in demand for Indonesia's main commodities, and the increase in imports caused Indonesia's trade balance to experience a deficit.
Indonesia's trade surplus once reached its highest peak of more than US$39 billion in 2006 and 2007. However, the following year it fell sharply to only US$7.8 billion, triggered by the financial crisis that hit Europe.
Throughout January-November 2017, Indonesia's trade balance recorded a surplus of US$12.02 billion, 26 percent higher than the trade balance surplus in the (January-December) 2016 period. Last year's achievement has the potential to be the largest in the last six years.
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