February 2018 Exports, Lowest in the Last Seven Months

Indonesia's export value in February 2018 decreased by 3.14% to US$14.06 billion compared to the previous month, but showed an 11.76% increase compared to the same month of the previous year. Similarly, imports fell by 7.16% to US$14.22 billion compared to the previous month, yet still recorded an increase of over 25% compared to the same month the previous year.

Based on data from the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS), Indonesia's export value in February was the lowest in the past seven months and represents a consecutive decline for the past three months since December 2017. Although the value of imports last month decreased, it remained higher than the export value. As a result, the trade balance in February of this year again showed a deficit of US$116 million, marking the third consecutive deficit since December of last year.

The occurrence of a trade deficit for three consecutive months should be a concern for the government as it can affect Bank Indonesia's foreign exchange reserves. As is known, the central bank's foreign exchange reserves in February decreased by US$3.9 billion to US$128.06 billion due to foreign debt payments, rupiah intervention, and the trade deficit. This amount of foreign exchange reserves is still sufficient to finance 7.9 months of imports and government foreign debt payments.