Indonesia exports continue to drop in May with little sign of improvement in the future as the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) predicts less trade surplus later this year, NewsNow reported. Indonesia posted a $950 million trade surplus in May for the fifth straight month, producing a combined five-month surplus total of $3.75 billion. But the surplus was not because of rising exports. It was instead backed by a faster downward trend in imports that has been largely due to Indonesia’s slowing economic activity. Exports dropped 15.24 percent year-on-year in May to $12.56 billion as oil and gas exports slumped 42.32 percent amid low global oil prices, while non-oil and gas shipments dipped 10.07 percent. By the end of May, overall exports declined 11.84 percent to $64.72 billion, underscoring a major challenge for the government to reach its 28 percent export growth target this year as part of its ambitious plan to triple exports within five years.
