Minister of Finance explained that the global economic growth has weakened, as evidenced by the significant decline in global exports and imports this year. The global economy only grew slightly above 2%. In this global slowdown, Indonesia has managed to maintain a trade balance surplus for 37 consecutive months according to The Minister during a working meeting with the Budget Agency at the Indonesian Parliament building in Central Jakarta. In May 2023, she stated that Indonesia's exports reached USD 21.7 billion (a slight growth of 0.96%). Meanwhile, Indonesia's imports reached USD 21.28 billion (a significant increase of 14.35%).
Therefore, the trade balance remained in surplus. Although the surplus is relatively small, amounting to only USD 0.44 billion, the trade balance has accumulated a surplus of USD 16.5 billion from January to May 2023. The Finance Minister also added that domestic economic activity is still well-maintained. According to Sri Mulyani, the optimism among the public remains strong. Furthermore, there were several long holidays in April and May 2023, which affected the working days and consequently the export and import statistics at Customs. In addition, Indonesia's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for the manufacturing sector has recovered to a level of 52.5 after experiencing a decline towards 50. However, this also indicates a recovery from the decline in working days during the holidays in April and May. The Mandiri Spending Index also remains strong at a level of 178.3. Moreover, The Minister noted a sharp increase in electricity consumption by businesses and industries, with growth rates of 14.2% and 16.4%. Cement consumption also experienced a significant increase of 25.3 percent. This is a positive trend, a combination of corrections due to the extended holidays in April, but it also shows the resilience and bullish economic strength.
