JAKARTA, May 15 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia's trade performance plunged into a deficit in April after two straight months of surpluses amid persistent drops of exports and imports as the COVID-19 pandemic has been ravaging the global economy.
Indonesia's National Agency of Statistics on Friday said that the trade deficit settled 350 million U.S. dollars in April.
Imports plunged by 18.59 percent to 12.54 billion U.S. dollars in April annualized and exports nudged lower by 7.02 percent to 12.19 billion U.S. dollars, the agency's Head Kecuk Suhariyanto said.
Falling global commodity prices and weak global demands were blamed to the weakening exports, according to him.
"The downshift in trade performance in April is primarily factored by the shrinking demands and the falling commodity prices," Suhariyanto further said.
The imports of raw materials came lower to 9.37 billion U.S. dollars in April 2020, from 11.57 billion U.S. dollars in the same month last year and the imports of capital goods edged down to 1.97 billion U.S. dollars in April 2020 from 2.37 billion U.S. dollars in the same period last year, the agency said.
Indonesia's trade surplus touched 743.4 million U.S. dollars in March and 2.34 billion U.S. dollars in February, according to the bureau.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been ravaging Indonesia's economy, dragging down exports and business activities as supply chains of goods have been disrupted amid restrictions of people movement.
Commodities are the major export products from the natural resources-rich country, Indonesia. Enditem
