January exports rise 23 percent

Dadan Wijaksana The Jakarta Post Jakarta

Exports in January increased by 23 percent in value to US$4.92 billion, compared to $4.09 billion posted in the same month last year, the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) reported on Tuesday.

BPS chairwoman Soedarti Surbakti said at a media gathering that the figure was also 2.5 percent higher from the previous month, which stood at $4.8 billion.

"With imports declining to $2.9 billion, the total trade surplus throughout January stands at $2.02 billion, up from $1.84 billion in December," she said.

Total imports in December was higher, at $2.96 billion.

Trade surplus contributes around 10 percent to the nation's economic growth, with investment and domestic consumption being the other engines of growth.

Although the impact is limited, the higher export sales should be encouraging as signaling a potential job market, as exporters could well be forced to expand their capacity to meet rising demands.

Soedarti added that the rise in January's export figure was partly pushed by higher sales in non-oil and gas exports at $3.73 billion, up from $3.63 billion in December.

A sharp rise in shipments to the United States was one of the factors causing the rise in non-oil and gas exports. Non-oil and gas exports to the U.S. rose to $568.7 million in January, from $497 million in December.

BPS added that machinery and electrical equipment topped the list of non-oil and gas export commodities.

The U.S., along with Japan and Singapore, is one of the country's main export destinations, with the three countries absorbing around 40 percent of the country's total non-oil and gas exports.

Meanwhile, BPS also reported that the inflation rate in January was up by 0.2 percent from the previous month, slowing down from the 0.8 percent rise recorded in January.

This brings the country's annual inflation rate in February to 7.37 percent, well below the government's inflation target of 9 percent this year.

Soedarti said an increase in the prices of processed food, beverages and cigarettes were largely responsible for the index's slight increase.

A controllable inflation would provide Bank Indonesia with more space to keep lowering its benchmark interest rates.