Govt reports deflation and $620m trade surplus
Govt reports deflation and $620m trade surplus
JAKARTA (JP): In its drive to stop inflation, the government recorded a 0.61 percent month-on-month deflation for March and a trade surplus of US$620.8 million for January.
Minister of Information Harmoko told journalists after a cabinet meeting chaired by President Soeharto here yesterday that Indonesia, hampered by high inflation rates for years, recorded deflations in a number of months in the late 1980s.
He explained that month-on-month deflation also occurred in August and September 1984, February, July, August and September 1985, March 1986, March 1987, September 1988, June and December 1989 and March 1990.
"It turns out that such deflation did not occur in March only. It has happened since 1984," Harmoko told journalists.
The month-on-month deflation in March resulted from the drop in the price of foodstuffs by 2.2 percent, clothing by 0.04 percent, housing by 0.4 percent and other goods and services by 0.03 percent.
With the deflation in March, Indonesia posted an inflation rate of 8.89 percent in the 1995/1996 fiscal year to March 31, up from 8.57 percent a year earlier.
Harmoko said President Soeharto had asked related ministers to anticipate and then curb price increases, especially during new year and Idul Fitri festivals, so that all basic goods would be available for the people.
Harmoko also announced that the government raised the price of clove -- with 10 percent water content and 3 percent dirt content -- to Rp 8,000 (US$3.4) a kilo, effective since yesterday, from Rp 7,900 a kilo, which has been in force since 1992.
From the Rp 8,000, Rp 5,000 will go to clove farmers, Rp 2,000 to village cooperatives buying the cloves and the remaining Rp 1,000 to the National Clove Agency.
The agency will use the funds, called conversion funds, to exchange clove trees in some areas with other suitable crops to reduce domestic clove supply.
"With this conversion fund, it is expected that the number of clove trees will decline each year so that clove production will continue to drop, eventually reaching a balance between supply and demand," Harmoko said.
Speaking on Indonesia's international trade, Harmoko announced that a trade surplus of $620.8 million was registered in January, down from $1.01 billion in December.
Indonesia's exports in January reached $3.58 billion, including oil and gas exports of $933.1 million, while its imports stood at $2.96 billion, including gas and oil imports of $194.6 million.
Harmoko noted that Indonesia's January exports still relied on traditional commodities, such as textiles and wood products. Apart from the traditional products, the pulp and paper sector recorded a very significant increase of 98.02 percent.
In addition to the trade surplus, Harmoko also revealed that Indonesia collected $713.6 million in revenues from foreign tourists visiting the country during the first two months of this year, which indicated an increase of 6.1 percent from the same period last year.
Harmoko added that last year's revenues from tourism were $5.2 billion, up 9.4 percent over 1994. Indonesia booked 4.3 million foreign tourist arrivals last year, up 7.8 percent over 1994.
Discussing "mad cow" disease, Harmoko argued that the disease would not spread to Indonesia because there are no direct beef imports from Britain. Existing imports are from New Zealand, Australia and the United States.
"We ban imports of beef from Britain," Harmoko said.
The crisis was sparked last month when the British government admitted a possible link between Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), or "mad cow" disease, and the fatal human brain disorder Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
Harmoko noted that both local milk and beef cows are raised in a traditional way which does not use unnatural fodder. (rid)