JAKARTA :Indonesia’s trade surplus in May is expected to widen to $2.53 billion as growth of imports is expected to drop from a double-digit rise in the previous month, while exports continued to rise, a Reuters poll showed on Monday.
Analysts in the poll estimated the rise in imports for May at 0.9 per cent, which would be the weakest growth in four months from February. Imports was up 21.84 per cent in April.
Growth of exports was expected at 0.4 per cent, lower than the 5.76 per cent recorded in April.
Southeast Asia’s biggest economy has been enjoying monthly trade surpluses since mid-2020, mainly supported by a commodity boom, but it has been shrinking gradually amid weaker global demand.
The poll’s surplus for May was lower than the estimate from Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati at $4.9 billion of trade surplus, which would be the country’s biggest monthly surplus in more than two years.
On Tuesday, the statistics bureau will also announce Indonesia’s consumer price index data for the June period as well as foreign arrivals data in May.
(Polling by Devayani Sathyan in Bengaluru; Reporting by Stefanno Sulaiman in Jakarta; Editing by Vijay Kishore)
