RI books trade surplus of US$1.97 billion in March

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia booked a surplus of US$1.97 billion in its foreign trade in March, partly due to a sharp drop in imports, Minister of Trade and Industry Rahardi Ramelan said yesterday.

The minister said total exports rose 6 percent to $4.33 billion in March over the same month last year.

But the country, he said, still booked a surplus in its foreign trade despite the small increase in exports.

Imports, including non-oil and gas commodities, dropped 35.18 percent to $2.37 billion over the same period last year.

The minister said that in the 1997/1998 fiscal year, which ended in March, Indonesia recorded a 115.61 percent increase in its trade surplus to $15.10 billion

"It looks good, but there is also a report on (non-oil and gas) exports to our major destination countries. Non-oil exports to the U.S., for the first two months of this year, grew only 3.22 percent, to Japan they dropped 22.19 percent, to the Netherlands 18.62 percent, to Germany 7.1 percent, to South Korea 28.75 percent and to England 11.65 percent," Rahardi said after attending a 3.5-hour monthly cabinet meeting on the economy, finance and industry at the Bina Graha presidential office.

Rahardi held a joint press conference after the meeting with Minister of Information Yunus Yosfiah, Minister of Cooperatives and Small Enterprises Adi Sasono, Minister of Finance Bambang Subianto and Minister of Agriculture Soleh Solahuddin.

The Central Bureau of Statistics disclosed Monday that Indonesia booked a trade surplus of $5.09 billion during the first quarter of this year, with exports reaching $12.29 billion and imports $7.2 billion.

The bureau said the country's month-to-month inflation rate rose 5.24 percent in May, bringing the total increase in the consumer price index to 40.06 percent for the first five months of 1998.

Rahardi said the government plans to import 3.1 million tons of rice this year as the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) had said that its domestic rice procurement this year would not likely exceed 250,000 tons of rice.

In encouraging farmers to boost their productivity the government has also raised the floor price of unhusked rice to Rp 1,000 per kg, compared to the previous price of Rp 700, he noted.

"In a bid to save our foreign exchange reserves, we will maximally use international food assistance in the importation of rice," Rahardi said.

The government also has to import at least 1.3 million of sugar this year because its domestic production will be only about 1.8 million tons.

"Our sugar need in 1998 is about 3.1 million tons," Rahardi noted.

The government will also have to bring in 500,000 tons of corn because its production is expected to be only 9.4 million tons.

Rahardi said he was confident that the cooking oil price would stabilize soon as the government will continue distributing adequate supplies to local markets.

"The selling price is expected to be about Rp 4,000 per kg," he noted. (prb)