Eid Al-Fitr Helps to Increase Indonesian Import, Minister Says
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Kamis, 1 Januari 1970 07:00 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Darmin Nasution said that Eid Al-Fitr period helped in increasing Indonesia’s import. Most of the goods imported during the Eid period were consumption and household items.
"Before Eid Al-Fitr, import is increasing, although not significantly," said Darmin on Saturday, June 16, 2018.
The increasing import contributed to the deficit in Indonesian trade balance within the past two to three months. In addition to increasing import, the negative figure in the trade balance was also caused by slow export.
"Our export increased only by 8 to 9 percent year to date, while import was at 21 percent," Darmin stated.
One of the export commodities experiencing a slowdown was palm oil. The condition was triggered by the high import duty imposed by the Indian government against Indonesian palm oil.
In an attempt to mitigate the issue, President Joko Widodo has held talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"Hopefully [the import duty] can be lowered and our trade balance can show positive numbers," Darmin said.
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