Indonesian exports surge

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s exports racked up their strongest rise in 11 years in April, boosted by surging prices of key commodities such as palm oil and coal, data from the statistics bureau showed on Thursday as they beat analysts’ expectations.

The resource-rich nation’s shipments rose 51.94% on a yearly basis to $18.48 billion, for their sharpest increase since 2010, outperforming a figure of 41% forecast in a Reuters poll.

Imports rose 29.93% on the year, compared with 29.81% in the poll, to $16.29 billion.

The April trade surplus was $2.19 billion, up from the previous month’s surplus of $1.56 billion and the poll’s expectation of $1 billion.