Indonesian trade deficit narrows in August

Indonesia’s trade deficit narrowed in August, but the gap was larger than expected as exports growth slowed, government data showed on Monday, adding to pressure on the rupiah and local stocks.

Southeast Asia’s largest economy reported a trade deficit of US$1.02 billion (RM4.22 billion) for last month, much bigger than the US$680 million gap expected in a Reuters poll.

The country had a revised US$2.01 billion trade deficit in July, the largest in five years.

August imports were worth US$16.84 billion, up 24.65% from a year earlier, data released by the statistics bureau showed. This compared with expectations of a 26.53% t rise in the poll. Meanwhile, exports growth slowed to 4.15% from a year earlier to US$15.82 billion in August, compared with the poll forecast of a 10.03% increase.

Imports of consumer goods posted the biggest annual growth last month, while exports of agriculture products fell nearly 21% from a year earlier, the data showed, contributing to the slowdown in exports. Higher oil and gas imports also contributed to the deficit, according to the statistics bureau.

The rupiah slipped further after the data came in to trade at 14,885 per dollar, 0.57% below Friday’s close. The Indonesian currency traded at 14,880 per dollar before the data.

The rupiah has been trading at 20-year lows after being sucked into an emerging market rout, with selling exacerbated by concern over the country’s ability to plug a yawning current account deficit.

Jakarta’s benchmark stock index also extended falls to trade 1.8% lower, while the 10-year bond yield rose to 8.428% from 8.382% at yesterday’s opening.

The tariffs were not applied in August, but analysts have said importers may have frontloaded overseas purchases ahead of the increases.