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Indonesian entrepreneurs urge the central government to sign more bilateral free trade agreements because Indonesia's export products currently miss out on competitiveness as regional counterparts - such as those in Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam - can enjoy little or zero import duties under such agreements with specific trading partners, while the Indonesian government remains hesitant to be engaged in these deals.
Contrary to expectations Indonesia posted a trade deficit in July 2017. The nation's Statistics Agency (BPS) announced on Tuesday (15/08) that Southeast Asia's largest economy experienced a USD $271.2 million trade deficit last month, the country's first deficit in 19 months.
Although the nation continued to record a trade surplus, Indonesia's exports and imports unexpectedly contracted in June 2017. Indonesia's Statistics Agency (BPS) announced on Monday (17/07) that exports declined 11.82 percent year-on-year (y/y) to USD $11.64 billion, while imports fell 17.21 percent (y/y) to USD $10.01 billion last month. Hence resulting in a USD $1.63 billion trade surplus in June, up from a revised USD $580 million trade surplus in the preceding month.
Darmin Nasution, Indonesia's Coordinating Economic Affairs Minister, is optimistic that gross domestic product (GDP) of Southeast Asia's largest economy can expand between 5.1 and 5.3 percent year-on-year (y/y) in the second quarter of 2017.
Based on statements of officials at Indonesia’s Trade Ministry, the USA started its investigation into the trade deficits the USA has with 16 countries, including Indonesia. Two months ago US President Donald Trump ordered this trade probe as part of his “America First” policy. Trump wants the USA to have the upper hand (meaning a trade surplus) in trade relations.
Indonesia's Statistics Agency (BPS) announced Indonesia's trade surplus stood at USD $474 million in May 2017, significantly below analysts' estimates and the revised April 2017 trade surplus of USD $1.33 billion. Key reason that explains Indonesia's lower trade surplus is rising imports ahead of the Ramadan (the Islamic fasting month) and Idul Fitri celebrations (the festivities that follow after the end of Ramadan).
After Standard & Poor's (S&P) assigned investment grade status to Indonesia's sovereign rating, hence boosting positive perceptions about the Indonesian economy, the government should use this momentum to encourage public and private investment to push macroeconomic growth to the targeted range of 5.4 - 6.1 percent year-on-year (y/y) in 2018.
Indonesia's export performance tumbled 10.3 percent month-to-month (m/m) to USD $13.17 billion in April 2017. Suhariyanto, Head of Statistics Indonesia (BPS), attributed this decline to a steep 35.4 percent (m/m) decline in exports of oil and gas products. Nearly all components in the oil and gas balance were plagued by declining prices. However, also in terms of volume these oil and gas exports tumbled, implying weakening global demand for energy (perhaps a sign the Chinese economy remains in slowdown-mode).
Based on the latest data from Indonesia's Statistics Agency (BPS), released on Monday morning (15/05), Indonesia's export and import performance in April 2017 slightly weakened compared to the performance in the preceding month but remains in much better shape than it was in April one year ago. The nation's April trade surplus is USD $1.24 billion, smaller than the revised USD $1.39 billion surplus in the preceding month but still exceeding analysts' forecasts.
Indonesia reported good trade data on Monday (17/04). Indonesia's Statistics Agency (BPS) announced the nation's exports were worth USD $14.59 billion in March 2017, up 23.55 percent from the same month one year earlier (and the biggest rise since August 2011), on the back of growing oil and gas shipments. Moreover, the pace of Indonesia's export growth in March was nearly two times faster compared to growth recorded in the preceding month as well as the forecast of most analysts.
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Indonesia posted a USD $1.02 billion trade surplus in September 2015, higher than analysts' estimates and up from a revised USD $328 million trade surplus recorded in the preceding month. It was the tenth consecutive monthly trade surplus for Indonesia. However, the country's September trade surplus is primarily the result of rapidly declining imports, reflecting weak investment growth and weak consumption in Southeast Asia's largest economy.
Global credit rating agency Moody’s Investors Service cut its forecast for economic growth in Indonesia this year from five percent (y/y) to 4.7 percent (y/y) due to the perceived hard landing of China’s economy in combination with sluggish conditions in Japan and the Eurozone. Weak demand from China, the world’s second-largest economy and the top trading partner of Indonesia, is expected to continue to plague Indonesian exports and earnings.
For most of this year, the financial media has held a generally positive tone. There have been some exceptions in cases like the Eurozone which is still mired in a deeply divided sovereign debt crisis. But for most of the world, 2015 has been a positive period in terms of general growth in their broad trends. So it might be easy for macro investors to assume that most markets are currently establishing themselves in the bullish direction.
For most of this year, the Indonesian rupiah has met selling pressure against the US Dollar. Year-to-date price activity in the USD/IDR shows a rise from below IDR 12,250 to new highs above IDR 13,330 per US dollar. For Indonesian export companies, this is great news as it means that their products will be cheaper for foreign consumers to buy. For the domestic economy, this creates a different set of implications as it also makes it less likely that foreign investors will be looking to buy into Indonesian assets.
Since late 2011 Indonesia has been plagued by a structural current account deficit (CAD) that has worried both policymakers and (foreign) investors. Despite Indonesian authorities having implemented policy reforms and economic adjustments in recent years, the country’s CAD remains little-changed in 2015. The World Bank and Bank Indonesia both expect the CAD to persist at slightly below 3 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2015, alarmingly close to the boundary that separates a sustainable from an unsustainable deficit.
When we look at the long-term activity in the Indonesian rupiah, we have seen a surprising level of strength when viewing the activity seen in recent months. This has been surprising for a few different reasons, as this is not something that can be said for markets in emerging Asia as a whole. This essentially suggests that economic activity in the region has been somewhat disjointed and that trends visible in one country cannot necessarily be expected in another. But when we look at chart activity in the rupiah itself, we can see that the broader trends have started to change over the last two months.
Indonesia posted a higher-than-expected USD $454.4 million trade surplus in April 2015. Previously, analysts predicted to see an April trade surplus of around USD $120 million. However, the USD $454.4 million trade surplus was smaller than the (revised) USD $1 billion trade surplus recorded in March. Moreover, the April surplus (the country’s fifth consecutive trade surplus) is primarily caused by a large drop in imports, signalling that Indonesia’s economic performance remains sluggish at the start of Q2-2015.
Over the last year, the Indonesian rupiah has been rising when compared to a wide variety of world currencies. Some of the more pronounced strength has been seen against the US dollar, which has been travelling in the opposite direction for most of the same period. To many investors that are focused on the currency markets, it might appear as though these two currencies are largely unrelated. But when we look at the trends that have been developing over the last year, it quickly becomes clear that this is just not the case.
Within a couple of days Statistics Indonesia (BPS) is scheduled to release Indonesia’s GDP growth figure for the first quarter of 2015. Despite economic growth forecasts for full-year 2015 - both of the Indonesian government and international institutions such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) - signalling a rebound from the five-year low of 5.02 percent (y/y) in 2014, various analysts expect to see further slowing economic growth in Q1-2015.
Indonesia’s central bank (Bank Indonesia) decided to maintain its benchmark interest rate (BI rate) at 7.50 percent, the deposit facility rate at 5.50 percent and lending facility rate at 8.00 percent. This interest rate environment is considered to be in line with the central bank’s ongoing efforts to push the country’s inflation figure within its target of 4±1 percent for 2015 and 2016, as well as to control the country’s current account deficit towards a healthier level at 2.5-3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the medium term.
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