Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia posted a trade surplus of US$1.27 billion in June 2020, as exports rose to $12.03 billion and imports to $10.76 billion, Head of the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) Suhariyanto stated.
"Trade balance in June 2020 has shown encouraging development. Both exports and imports have increased. Exports rose across all sectors, including agriculture, industry, and mining. It is expected to become a positive sign for the next months," Suhariyanto noted during a virtual press conference here on Wednesday.
In the first half of the year, trade balance recorded a surplus of $5.50 billion, swinging from a $1.93-billion gap during the corresponding period in 2019.
"Taking into account this position, we can say that our trade balance in June 2020 and during the January-June period is still encouraging," he pointed out.
Exports increased to $12.03 billion owing to higher sales of oil and gas products, touching $580 million, or rising 3.8 percent, from that in May, while non-oil and gas sales increased by 15.73 percent to reach $11.45 billion.
The rise in oil and gas exports was chiefly due to the 42.9-percent increase in the Indonesian Crude Price (ICP) to $36.6 per barrel in June.
The rise in non-oil and gas exports was contributed by the agriculture sector, with an 18.99-percent rise to reach $280 million; processing industry, 15.96-percent increase to $9.6 billion; and mining industry, 13.69-percent rise to $1.51 billion.
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