The central bank of Indonesia (Bank Indonesia) announced on Friday (14/08) that the country’s current account deficit narrowed to USD $4.48 billion, or 2.1 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), in the second quarter of 2015. In the same quarter last year the deficit stood at USD $9.59 billion). As such, the current account deficit (CAD) has become more sustainable and this may provide some support for the rupiah which is currently facing tough times (ahead of a looming US interest rate and China’s yuan devaluation).

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Statistics Indonesia (BPS) announced today (05/08) that the Indonesian economy grew 4.67 percent (y/y) in the second quarter of 2015, the slowest pace since 2009. However, the result was in line with expectation. Most analysts assumed that economic growth would continue to slow as there has been no rebound in global commodity prices, interest rates remained high, people’s purchasing power weakened, government spending remained problematic, companies Q2-2015 earnings reports were not too good, and manufacturing contracted.

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Indonesia mencatat surplus perdagangan 477 juta dollar Amerika Serikat (AS) pada bulan Juni 2015, surplus perdagangan ke-7 secara beruntun. Meskipun begitu, menurut data terakhir dari BPS, diterbitkan pada hari Rabu (14/07), ekspor Indonesia pada Juni ini jatuh 12,8% (year-on-year) menjadi 13,4 miliar dollar AS, sementara impor jatuh 17,4% (year-on-year) menjadi 12,9 miliar dollar AS. Angka-angka ini menunjukkan bahwa surplus perdagangan Indonesia terutama disebabkan oleh permintaan domestik yang lemah dan lebih melambat daripada permintaan global (yang terus melambat juga). Kondisi ini meningkatkan kekuatiran mengenai pertumbuhan perekonomian domestik dan global.

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The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has revised its economic growth forecast for Indonesia in 2015 from 5.2 percent year-on-year (y/y) to 5 percent (y/y). During a press conference on Tuesday (07/07) in Jakarta, Edimon Ginting, Deputy Country Director for Indonesia of the Philippines-based ADB, said that there are three reasons that explain why the ADB has become less optimistic about Indonesia’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth in 2015. Last year, Indonesia’s economic growth slowed to a five-year low of 5.02 percent (y/y).

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Salah satu alasan mengapa ekspansi perekonomian Indonesia telah melambat di beberapa tahun terakhir adalah karena performa ekspor yang lemah. Akibat melambatnya pertumbuhan perekonomian global, terutama melambatnya pertumbuhan di Republik Rakyat Tiongkok (salah satu mitra dagang utama Indonesia), permintaan global untuk komoditi dan produk lain telah menurun. Indonesia, sebuah negara eksportir komoditi penting, segera merasakan dampak dari jatuhnya permintaan.

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Pihak berwenang Indonesia, yaitu Pemerintah dan bank sentral (Bank Indonesia), mengumumkan sejumlah asumsi makroekonomi yang direvisi untuk 2015 dan 2016. Mungkin yang paling penting adalah bahwa asumsi pertumbuhan perekonomian Indonesia di 2016 telah diturun pada cakupan 5,5-6,0% pada basis year-on-year (y/y), turun dari asumsi sebelumnya yaitu 5,8-6,2% (y/y). Menteri Keuangan Indonesia Bambang Brodjonegoro juga menyatakan bahwa Pemerintah akan mengasumsikan rupiah pada Rp 13.000-13.400 per dollar Amerika Serikat (AS) untuk tahun 2016.

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Badan Pusat Statistik (Statistics Indonesia) announced today (15/06) that Indonesia posted a USD $950 million trade surplus in May 2015, the sixth consecutive monthly trade surplus and higher than the earlier projected USD $600 million. Although the trade surplus is positive news, a closer look at the data shows that domestic and global activity has weakened as Indonesian imports fell 21.4 percent (y/y) to USD $11.6 billion, while exports fell 15.2 percent to USD $12.6 billion in May, the eight straight month of falling imports and exports.

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The central bank of Indonesia (Bank Indonesia) revised down its economic growth outlook for Indonesia in 2015. In a meeting with the House of Representatives’ Budget Committee, Bank Indonesia Governor Agus Martowardojo said that Indonesia’s GDP growth is expected to reach 5.1 percent (y/y) this year. Previously, the central bank projected economic growth in the range of 5.4 to 5.8 percent (y/y). However, after seeing weak growth in the first quarter (4.71 percent y/y), projections had to be revised.

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The central bank (Bank Indonesia) announced on Friday (15/05) that Indonesia’s current account deficit narrowed to USD $3.8 billion, or, 1.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter of 2015. Although this result is slightly higher than Bank Indonesia’s estimation (1.6 percent of GDP), it was lower than the current account deficits in Q4-2014 (2.6 percent of GDP) or Q1-2014 (1.9 percent). This positive performance was mainly caused by a narrowing deficit in the country’s oil & gas trade balance.

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Pertumbuhan ekonomi Indonesia di Q1-2015 dicatat 4,71% pada basis year-on-year (y/y). Meskipun telah diprediksi bahwa angka pertumbuhan produk domestik bruto (PDB) Indonesia akan jatuh di bawah batas 5%, perlambatan ini lebih buruk dari dugaan awal. Suryamin, Kepala Badan Pusat Statistik (BPS), menyatakan pada awal hari ini (05/05) bahwa pertumbuhan ekonomi Indonesia melambat mencapai level terendah selama lima tahun akibat lemahnya ekspor (hasil dari berkurangnya pertumbuhan ekonomi di pasar ekspor) dan rendahnya harga minyak mentah dunia.

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In line with the increase in domestic economic activity, Indonesia's trade balance recorded a USD $678 million deficit in January 2018. The deficit was particularly attributed to a shrinking surplus of the country's non-oil & gas trade balance. Although Indonesia's oil & gas deficit declined in the first month of 2018, it was not enough to offset the impact of the shrinking non-oil & gas surplus. Hence the country posted its second consecutive monthly trade deficit.

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Through Trade Ministry Regulation No. 82/2017 on the Terms of Use of National Shipping and Insurance Companies for the Export and Import of Certain Goods the Indonesian government requires exporters of crude palm oil (CPO), coal and rice to use ships that are owned by local sea transport companies as well as to use domestic insurance. This regulation will come into effect, gradually, per May 2018.

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In the last month of 2017 Indonesia posted a USD $270 million trade deficit according to the latest data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS). This result goes against the prediction of most analysts, who expected to see another trade surplus for Southeast Asia's largest economy. Indonesia posted a trade surplus in all months of 2017 with the exception of July and December.

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Earlier this week, the central banks of Indonesia (Bank Indonesia), Malaysia (Bank Negara Malaysia), Thailand (Bank of Thailand) jointly announced the launch of the local currency settlement framework. This framework aims at boosting the use of local currencies in transactions (specifically related to trade and investment) conducted between Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand in an effort to reduce these countries' dependence on the US dollar.

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The trade surplus of Indonesia widened in September 2017 as export growth outpaced import growth. Indonesia's Statistics Agency (BPS) announced on Monday (16/10) that the nation's trade balance showed a USD $1.76 billion surplus in September, higher than analysts' forecasts and slightly higher than the USD $1.72 billion surplus in the preceding month.

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The Indonesian government is currently studying the opportunities and challenges with regard to the making of a new bilateral trade deal with the USA. These efforts are a side-effect of US Vice President Mike Pence's recent visit to Indonesia when he signed 11 trade and investment deals worth a combined USD $10 billion.

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Ahead of the Islamic Ramadan and Idul Fitri celebrations, consumption tends to increase in Indonesia. One of the products that is searched for by Indonesian consumers (those who adhere to Islam) is Muslim fashion such as clothes and the veil. In fact, the Indonesian government wants the nation to become Asia's center for Muslim fashion by the year 2018 and the world's Muslim fashion leader by 2020. Muslim clothes are also envisaged to become a key export product. Currently, Indonesia's Muslim fashion exports are still rather insignificant.

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Indonesia's balance of payments registered a deficit in the first quarter of 2016. Based on the latest data from Indonesia's central bank (Bank Indonesia), the deficit stood at USD $287 million in Q1-2016, down from a USD $1.3 billion surplus in the same quarter last year. The balance of payments deficit was the result of the nation's Q1-2016 capital and financial transaction surpluses (USD $4.17 billion) not being able to cover the current account deficit (CAD). Indonesia's Q1-2016 CAD shrank to USD $4.67 billion, or 2.14 percent of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP).

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Although Indonesia's economic growth in the first quarter of 2016 was below analysts' estimates, most analysts agree that the nation's economic growth in the second quarter of the year could reach 5 percent (y/y), supported by domestic consumption and capital inflows. In Q1-2016 Indonesia's economic growth climbed at a pace of 4.92 percent (y/y) - accelerating from the 4.73 percent (y/y) GDP growth pace in the same quarter one year earlier - but significantly below estimates of most analysts. For example, Bank Indonesia expected GDP growth around 5.1 - 5.2 percent (y/y).

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The Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) believes that the economy of Indonesia will benefit if the government decides to participate in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) because this free trade deal would make the Indonesian economy more efficient and makes Indonesian exports more competitive. However, Philip Vermonte, Executive Director of CSIS, said a comprehensive study on the matter is yet to be carried out. Others remain concerned about a possible huge rise in imports into Indonesia if Southeast Asia's largest economy would join the TPP deal.

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