JAKARTA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia posted a declining trade balance surplus of 2.24 billion U.S. dollars in December 2024, compared to 4.37 billion dollars in the previous month, Statistics Indonesia (BPS) announced on Wednesday.
Despite the reduction in amount, the figure marks the 56th consecutive trade balance surplus since May 2020, Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti, acting head of BPS, told a press conference.
Amalia noted that non-oil and gas commodities such as mineral fuels, vegetable animal fats, and iron and steel contributed to the surplus.
December's exports climbed by 4.78 percent annually to 23.46 billion dollars, while imports increased by 11.07 percent to 21.22 billion dollars.
As a result, Indonesia achieved a total surplus of 31.04 billion dollars in 2024, a decrease from 36.89 billion dollars in the previous year.
Ramdan Denny Prakoso, executive director of Bank Indonesia's communication department, said that the central bank sees the trade surplus as positive and plans to increase policy synergy for long-term economic resilience.