The current account surplus in 2022 was the biggest since 2009 in terms of percentage of GDP, according to World Bank data. "This performance was mainly supported by an increase in exports in line with high global commodity prices and demand for Indonesian commodities, which remained good, amidst imports which also increased in line with the improvement in the domestic economy," Bank Indonesia (BI) said in a statement on Monday.
Indonesia's current account surplus also helped its rupiah currency remain relatively steady against a strong dollar last year. For all of 2022, Indonesia's exports of goods reached an annual historic high of $291.98 billion, resulting in the trade surplus reaching $54.46 billion that year, which was also a record high. Indonesia is the world's largest exporter of palm oil and thermal coal. It is also a major supplier of tin, copper, rubber and nickel products, among other commodities. Meanwhile Indonesia's 2022 balance of payments stood at $4 billion or lower than $13.5 billion the year before. However, David Sumual, an economist with Bank Central Asia, said a high current account surplus might not be repeated this year as top commodities prices have been moderating in the last few months.
"I don't see exports this year will as good as last year...domestic economy is also improving, meaning product imports will be higher too," he said.
He projected that Indonesia's current account this year might reach a deficit of around 0.5% of GDP.
In the last quarter of 2022, Indonesia posted balance of payments surplus of $4.7 billion, while the current account surplus was at $4.3 billion or equivalent to 1.3% of GDP, BI said. (Reporting by Stefanno Sulaiman Editing by Ed Davies, Kanupriya Kapoor)
