JAKARTA (Reuters) -Indonesia’s trade surplus narrowed in November to $2.41 billion as imports increased more than expected, while exports continued their weakening trend, data from the statistics bureau showed on Friday.
Southeast Asia’s biggest economy has seen its shipments declining by value in the past months due to falling commodity prices and slowing global demand.
In November, exports fell 8.56% on a yearly basis to $22 billion versus the 9.36% drop expected in a Reuters poll.
Indonesia’s top export products are coal, palm oil and nickel metals.
Imports, on the other hand, were up 3.29% on a yearly basis to $19.59 billion, much higher than the prediction in the poll for only a 0.20% increase.
On an annual basis, overseas purchases of consumer and capital goods rose by 19.82% and 13.66%, respectively. Meanwhile, imports of raw materials were down 1.05%.
(Reporting by Stefanno Sulaiman and Ananda Teresia; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
