VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesia's current account posted a decade-high growth in the third quarter of 2020 with trade surplus reaching US$964 million, or 0.36 percent of the gross domestic product, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs said.

"Trade surplus contributed to Indonesia's current account for the first time ever in the past decade," Minister Airlangga Hartarto said at an online discussion here on Tuesday.

The positive support of capital and financial transactions in the third quarter of 2020 also led to the country's balance of payments recording a surplus of US$2.1 billion, he informed.

This indicates that the resilience of Indonesia's external sector remains strong despite pandemic pressure, thereby raising optimism about the prospects for the national economy, he pointed out.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Indonesian economy reached the lowest point in the second quarter of this year, when the domestic economy contracted 5.32 percent. Growth began to improve from the third quarter, when it was recorded at minus 3.49 percent.

“In the third quarter, we passed [returned back from] the lowest point or rock bottom, wherein the economy contracted 3.49 percent compared to the second quarter, when it contracted 5.32 percent. This is the momentum of economic recovery that we must maintain," he noted.

The momentum of economic recovery must be maintained along with the government's efforts to implement a balanced push-and-pull strategy for handling COVID-19, he added.

The application of a balanced push-and-pull strategy to the health and economic sectors will raise public optimism about the national economy, in line with the availability of COVID-19 vaccines, he remarked.

“We are waiting for emergency-use authorization (for COVID-19 vaccines) from BPOM (the Drug and Food Supervisory Agency) and this will be the government's priority. We hope that the game-changer vaccines will be able to improve public trust,” he added. (Antaranews)