INDONESIA'S IMPORTS ARE ON THE RISE

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Dec 5, (ANTARA) -Indonesia's imports have been on the rise, leaving a deficit in the country's trade balance. Yet, officials say that this phenomenon will benefit the real sector.          The value of Indonesia's imports from January 2012 to October 2012 reached US$159.18 billion, a 9.35 percent increase as compared to the corresponding period in 2011, when the value of imports stood at US$145.57 billion.          The country's imports increased in October 2012 and reached US$17.21 billion. This is a 12.6 percent increase as compared to in September 2012, when the value of imports stood at US$15.35 billion.          "The increased imports are a result of the high imports of auxiliary raw materials and capital goods such as airplanes, gas, iron and steel," said Bachrul Chairi, head of the Policy Assessment and Development Affairs of the Trade Ministry, on Tuesday.            Airplanes and their spare parts were the largest non-oil and gas commodity imports in October 2012, which increased by 152.62 percent, from US$165.7 million to US$418.6 million.          Bachrul said the import of capital goods is a sign that Indonesia¿s real sector is growing.          The trade ministry official said that airplane imports from January to October 2012 increased by 41.4 percent and reached US$1 billion.          According to the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS), Indonesia imported eight units of airplanes worth US$331.1 million in October 2012. This is a 234 percent increase as compared to in September.         "Eight units of airplanes were imported by Garuda Indonesia, Sriwijaya, Wing Air and Lion Air," said Sasmita Hadi Wibowo, BPS deputy for social affairs and service distribution.          Bachrul said that iron and steel imports from January to October 2012 increased by 38.2 percent and reached US$1 billion.          "The increase in the value of imports from January to October 2012 was caused by the rise of gas imports by 109.5 percent, reaching US$2.4 billion. It was also caused by an increase in the value of imports of non-oil and non-gas commodities by 11.1 percent, reaching US$124.4 billion," said Bachrul.          Imports of vehicles and spare parts increased by 30.24 percent and reached US$1.9 billion, while the imports of optic wares rose by 26.2 percent and reached US$0.3 billion.          Imports of organic chemicals rose by 25.9 percent and reached US$0.3 billion, iron and steel imports rose by 22.8 percent and reached US$1.6 billion, dregs imports rose by 20.7 percent and reached US$03.billion, and machinery imports increased by 19.5 percent and reached US$3.8 billion.          Especially in October, imports were boosted by an increase in the imports of crude oil by 23.9 percent, as compared to the previous month, and by an increase in non-oil and gas imports by 12.4 percent.         Sasmita Hadi Wibowo (from BPS) said that Indonesia's non-oil and gas imports from January to October 2012 reached US$34.79 billion, up 3.53 percent as compared to the same period in 2011, which was recorded at US$33.60 billion.          The biggest supplier of Indonesia's imports in the January-October 2012 period was China, followed by Japan and the United States. The value of Indonesia's imports from these three countries stood at US$23.92 billion, US$19.33 billion and US$9.65 billion respectively.          In the meantime, Indonesia's imports in the January - October 2012 period were higher than its exports in the corresponding period, causing a deficit of US$516.1 million in its trade balance.          "The trade balance of US$516.1 million is the balance between Indonesia's exports in the January - October 2012 period worth US$158.66 billion and its imports of US$159.18 billion in the same period," Sasmita Hadi Wibowo said.          According to the BPS, Indonesia's exports reached US$15.67 billion in October 2011, down 1.45 percent, when compared to the exports in September 2011, which stood at US$15.9 billion.          "Our trade balance saw a deficit of US$1.5 billion in October and a surplus of US$549.5 million in November. The trade balance deficit in the January-October 2012 period was US$516.1 million," Bachrul Chairi said.           He said the surplus of non-oil/non-gas trade which fell to US$2.6 billion, and the deficit of oil/gas trade which reached US$3.2 billion, also added to the trade balance deficit. "To curb the deficit, the government has prepared a number of policies," he said.           The declining export performance is not the result of a weakening global demand for Indonesian commodities, but it is because of the decline in the value of several export commodities in the global market, he said.          "The government will diversify the market for Indonesian exports to promote investments and exports on a large scale," he said.          He said non-oil/non-gas exports to new markets in Africa and Latin America will increase by more than 115 percent, although the value of exports to the two regions is still below US$100 million.          Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan said that rising imports will eventually boost the country's exports because the imported commodities (auxiliary goods and raw materials) will increase the value of Indonesia's exports.          "Indonesia will have to prove that the current rise in imports is aimed at increasing the value of Indonesia's exports. It would have been different if goods were imported only for consumption at home," he said.           "It will be good if Indonesia¿s export value this year is similar to that of 2011. Therefore, I hope commodity prices remain stable so that Indonesia can increase its exports and reduce its trade balance deficit," Gita added.***2*** (T.A014/INE/A014) (T.A014/A/KR-BSR/A/A014) 05-12-2012 17:10: