RI books trade surplus of US$1.97 billion in March

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)