Indonesian Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita said the Indonesian government plans to sign the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA) in March 2019.

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Indonesia’s current account deficit widened to USD $31.1 billion, equivalent to 2.98 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), in full-year 2018. It is a big deterioration compared to the USD $17.29 billion deficit (1.7 percent of GDP) in the preceding year. It means the current account balance remains the Achilles’ heel of the Indonesian economy, one that - potentially - triggers rapid and large capital outflows in times of global economic turmoil.

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On Monday (07/01) Indonesia Investments released the December 2018 edition of its monthly research report. The report aims to inform the reader of the key political, economic and social developments that occurred in Indonesia in the month of December 2018 and also touches upon key international developments that impacted on the Indonesian economy.

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Concern about Indonesia's Q4-2018 current account deficit as well as the value of the rupiah exchange rate should increase now the country posted a big USD $2.05 billion monthly trade deficit in November 2018. It is the highest monthly trade deficit for Southeast Asia's largest economy since July 2013.

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On Sunday 16 December 2018 Indonesia and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), which consists of non-EU member countries Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland, signed the Indonesia-EFTA Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). The signing ceremony, which was held in Indonesia’s capital city of Jakarta, effectively ends nearly eight years of negotiations between both sides.

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While most of the focus, rightfully, remains centered on the disaster in Central Sulawesi where presumably thousands of people have lost their lives due to a big earthquake and devastating tsunami, it is worth keeping an eye on the Indonesian rupiah exchange rate which is again facing heavy pressures and has now slipped beyond the psychological boundary of IDR 15,000 per US dollar.

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While daily newspaper Sydney Morning Herald reports that Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison will visit Jakarta on 31 August 2018 to announce the completion of the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA), Indonesian newspaper Kompas reports that Morrison will come to Jakarta for further IA-CEPA negotiations (only).

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Adding more pressures onto the rupiah, Indonesia's Statistics Agency (BPS) announced on Wednesday (15/08) that the country's trade balance deteriorated significantly. In July 2018 Indonesia had a USD $2.03 billion trade deficit, much bigger than had been expected by analysts (and constituting the widest monthly trade deficit in the past five years). The latest deficit was particularly attributed to rapidly rising imports into Southeast Asia's largest economy.

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Negotiations related to the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA) have entered the final phase. Iman Pambagyo, the Trade Ministry's International Trade Negotiations Director General, said both sides are currently finalizing the agreement. He added that around 85 percent of the agreement has been completed now and the deal is expected to be fully completed before the end of 2018.

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According to the latest data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS), the country's trade balance showed a USD $1.74 billion surplus in June 2018. It was a much bigger surplus than had been estimated by analysts, primarily caused by weaker import growth than had been predicted by analysts.

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Last month we warned that Indonesia’s trade performance could easily continue to contract in February 2023, thereby continuing the trend we have seen since August 2022. Moreover, February is a short month, and therefore it typically has trouble to compete with other months in terms of trade activity.

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On 06 February 2023, Indonesia’s Statistical Agency (Badan Pusat Statistik, or BPS) released the latest official gross domestic product (GDP) data of Indonesia. The data were in line with expectations.

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In the second half of September 2022 the Indonesian rupiah experienced some steep depreciating pressures, nearly touching IDR 15,300 per US dollar. It prompted Bank Indonesia to step and intervene in markets to limit the currency’s decline; a step that typically leads to a drop in the country’s foreign exchange reserves.

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Both Indonesia’s export and import performance was quite amazing in March 2022. While we expected imports to rebound ahead of the start of the Ramadan month (on 1 April 2022), a month that typically gives rise to a big increase in consumption, we did underestimate Indonesia’s export performance in last month’s forecast.

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In January 2022 Indonesian Minister for Coordinating Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said the Indonesian government aims to ratify the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade agreement in the first quarter of 2022. Just like the Philippines and Myanmar, Indonesia is still to ratify the RCEP even though this agreement already took effect per 1 January 2022.

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According to the latest data from Statistics Indonesia (Badan Pusat Statistik, or BPS), Indonesia posted a USD $4.37 billion trade surplus in September 2021. It is a slightly lower surplus compared to the previous month (when Indonesia posted its highest ever monthly trade surplus), but remains one of the highest surpluses in the history of Indonesia.

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Indonesia recorded another big trade surplus in July 2020. Based on the latest data from Indonesia’s Statistical Agency (BPS), the country's trade surplus reached USD $3.26 billion in July 2020, a huge improvement from the USD $280.1 million deficit it recorded in the same month one year earlier.

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For the second consecutive month Indonesia recorded a big trade surplus. According to the latest data from Indonesia’s Statistical Agency (BPS), the country posted a USD $1.27 billion trade surplus in June 2020.

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On 5 May 2020 Statistics Indonesia (Badan Pusat Statistik, BPS), a non-departmental government agency, released the first quarter gross domestic product (GDP) data of Indonesia for the year 2020. These data were highly anticipated as policymakers, analysts, and stakeholders are particularly interested in finding out to what extent damage has been done to the Indonesian economy by the self-imposed restrictions.

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In line with estimates, Indonesia’s trade balance showed another deficit in January 2020. Based on the latest data from Statistics Indonesia (Badan Pusat Statistik, or BPS), a USD $864.2 million trade deficit was recorded in the first month of the year.

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