REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Indonesia's current account deficit (CAD) in the fourth quarter of last year rose to US$9.1 billion, partly due to imports being in excess of exports. It was equal to 3.57 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).

The worsening trade performance was a result of the high demand for imported goods leading to a deeper deficit in the trade of goods, Executive Director of Bank Indonesia's Statistics Department Yati Kurniuati said here on Friday. In the fourth quarter of 2018, the trade in goods recorded a deficit of $2.6 billion and the trade in services saw a deficit of $1.6 billion.

"The deficit mainly resulted from the fulfillment of productive needs," she said.

Referring to BI data, the persistently high deficit of primary income had also put pressure on the current account for all of last year. In the fourth quarter of 2018 alone, the primary income saw a deficit of $7 billion.

Due to the widening current account deficit in the fourth quarter of 2018, compared to 2017, the current account deficit throughout 2018 almost doubled to $31.1 billion, accounting for 2.98 percent of the GDP. In 2017, the current account deficit stood at $16.2 billion or 1.6 percent of the GDP.

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