BPS: August Deficit Amounts to US$318.1 million
1 October 2014 16:50 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia recorded a transactional deficit of US$318.1 million in August 2014, according to a release by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS).
According to the release, exports in August amounted to US$14.48 billion, while imports costed Indonesia US$14.79 billion in the same period.
"If we look at sectors other than oil and gas, only one sector experienced a significant deficit, but the surplus recorded was surpassed by the deficit recorded in the oil and gas sector," BPS head Suryamin said in Jakarta on Wednesday.
In terms of trade volume, Indonesia recorded a volume surplus of 31.8 million tons, with exports in August totalling 43.47 tons while imports amounted to 11.67 million tons in the same period.
Sectors other than oil and gas sectors recorded a surplus of US$483 million, as exports contributed US$11.88 billion to the Indonesian economy, while imports costed US$11.39 billion in August 2014.
However, these surpluses are wiped out since the oil and gas sector recorded a deficit of US$801.1 million. Export transactions in the sector amounted to US$2.5 billion, but imports costed the state US$3.4 billion in August 2014.
"The huge deficit in the oil and gas sector is the main contributor to Indonesia's ongoing transactional deficit, which negates all the surpluses generated by other sectors in the economy," said Suryamin.
In accumulative terms, Indonesia recorded a deficit of US$1.4 billion between January and August 2014, which is mainly driven by the deficits in the oil and gas sector at US$8.58 billion in the same period.
ANTARA