Indonesia Posts $270 Million Trade Deficit in July, From $1.63 Billion Surplus in June

Indonesia booked $270 million trade deficit in July, swinging from $1.63 billion surplus in June due to a surge in imports of raw and semi-finished goods, the official Statistics Agency said Tuesday.

The result came as a surprise, as the median forecast from a Wall Street Journal poll of 10 economists was for a $964 million surplus.

The agency said imports rose 39.0% from a month earlier to $13.89 billion, and rose 54.0% from a year ago.

Imports of raw and semi-finished goods, which are usually used for the production of goods for export, rose 75.1%, meanwhile capital good imports increased 17.0%.

Exports rose 16.8% from June to $13.62 billion, and jumped 41.1% a year ago.

The trade deficit is likely to weigh on Indonesia's current-account deficit in the third quarter.

-- Write to I Made Sentana at i-made.sentana@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 15, 2017 00:59 ET (04:59 GMT)