REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) noted that Indonesia's trade balance returned to surplus in September 2023. Acting Head of BPS Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti said the goods trade balance in September 2023 was in surplus of USD 3.42 billion or USD 0.3 billion rose on a monthly basis.

“Thus the trade balance registered a surplus for 41 consecutive months since May 2020,” Amalia told a news conference on Monday (16/10/2023). He said that the surplus increased when compared with the surplus of the previous month. Only, in his opinion, the figure is lower when compared to the same month in 2022.

The surplus was sustained from a non-oil surplus of USD 534 billion. Contributing commodities are minerals, vegetable fats, and iron and steel. “The surplus of the non-oil and gas balance in September 2023 was much higher than last month but lower than in September 2022,” explained Amalia.

The surplus in September 2023 occurred because the value of exports was higher than imports. In September 2023, Amalia said, the value of Indonesia's imports reached 17.34 billion US dollars or decreased by 8.15 percent on a monthly basis.

He detailed that oil and gas imports in the period were recorded to be worth 3.33 billion US dollars. That was up by 25.04 percent compared to the previous month.

Meanwhile, Amalia revealed that non-oil and gas imports in September 2023 reached 14.01 billion US dollars. He said the figure had decreased by 13.60 percent.

Meanwhile, BPS recorded the value of Indonesia's exports in September 2023 at 20.76 billion US dollars. “This is down 5.63 percent compared to August 2023,” Amalia said.

Amalia detailed that Indonesia's oil and gas exports in September 2023 reached USD 1.41 billion or rose 6.54 percent on a monthly basis. Meanwhile, Indonesia's non-oil and gas exports in the period reached USD 19.35 billion or decreased by 6.41 percent compared to the previous month.