Indonesia trade surplus widens slightly in Feb, near expectation

JAKARTA: Indonesia's trade surplus widened slightly in February, with exports continuing to rise while imports grew for the first time since June 2019 due to low base effect, data from the country's statistics bureau showed on Monday.

February's surplus was $2.01 billion, compared with a $2.21 billion surplus expected in a Reuters poll and a $1.96 billion surplus a month earlier.

Exports grew 8.56% on a yearly basis to $15.27 billion, a touch slower than the poll's forecast of 8.73%, supported by shipments of steel, coal and copper, among other products. Imports rose 14.86% year-on-year to $13.26 billion, faster than the 12.60% forecast in the poll.