World

Indonesia's Q4 current account deficit at 2.2pc of GDP

Published February 9, 2018 Updated February 9, 2018 01:58pm

The current account deficit in the October-December period was $5.8 billion, or 2.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), compared with a deficit of 1.7 percent of GDP in the third quarter, Bank Indonesia (BI) said in a report.

Southeast Asia's largest economy had a balance of payments surplus of $1 billion in the fourth quarter, the central bank data showed.

For the whole of 2017, Indonesia posted an $11.6-billion surplus in its balance of payments, the BI also said, with a full-year current account deficit equivalent to 1.7 percent of GDP, in line with BI estimation of "below 2 percent".

This year, BI expects the current account deficit to be at 2 percent to 2.5 percent of GDP.

The current account is the broadest measure of a country's foreign trade in both goods and services. It is part of the balance of payments, which summarises an economy's transactions with the rest of the world.

 

 

Copyright Reuters, 2018