VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Indonesian Central Statistics Agency on Thursday (15/7) launched Indonesia's trade balance, which experienced a surplus of US$1.32 billion dollars in June 2021. The total value of exports reached US$18.55 billion dollars and the total import value of US$17.23 billion dollars. Head of the Central Statistics Agency, Margo Yuwono said that this achievement was the 14th time in a row since May 2020. This shows that there is resilience in terms of national exports and imports, despite the current Covid-19 pandemic.

Responding to the report, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto said that the momentum of Indonesia's trade balance surplus must be maintained through a number of strategies. He also remarked that to maintain the sustainability of the trade surplus going forward, several key factors need to be kept in mind. These key factors include maintaining stable global demand growth, particularly in key markets. Indonesia must also maximize the role and function of trade representatives in encouraging increased exports. Other efforts that need to be done are monitoring the dynamics of price developments and export volumes of main and potential commodities, as well as maintaining a balance of import growth, especially in the consumption import component.

Minister Airlangga believes that the increase in exports and imports in June 2021, both monthly and annually, shows that economic activity in Indonesia continues to recover. Indonesia's trade balance performance is still quite impressive even in the midst of Covid-19. The performance of the trade balance which is quite resilient amid the Covid-19 pandemic needs to be appreciated.

The surplus in June 2021, in particular, was supported by exports of some of Indonesia's mainstay non-oil and gas commodities, namely animal and vegetable fats and oils, mineral fuels, and iron and steel. The increase in exports was also influenced by movements in global commodity prices, such as coal and CPO.

Overall, this positive trade balance performance was also influenced by developments in manufacturing activity in major trading partner countries, particularly the USA and China. Head of the Central Statistics Agency, Margo Yuwono said that the countries that contributed to the surplus in Indonesia's trade balance in June 2021 were the United States, the Philippines and Malaysia.