JAKARTA, Sept 30 (Reuters) – Indonesia was expected to record a larger trade surplus of about $630 million in August, while its inflation rate for September was projected to rise slightly, according to a Reuters poll of economists.
Below are the details from the September 25 to September 29 poll, conducted ahead of the data release on October 1:
• The median estimate of 17 economists put annual export growth in August at 4.30%, slowing from 6.05% in the prior month. Import growth, meanwhile, was expected to accelerate to 31.14% from 27.02% in July.
• In July, the trade surplus stood at about $130 million, reversing trade deficits in the previous two months. The deficit recorded in May had ended a monthly trade-surplus streak that had lasted roughly six years.
• According to a poll of 20 economists, September headline inflation was expected to rise to 3.30% from 3.19%, remaining within the central bank’s 1.5%–3.5% target range.
• The mean forecast for core inflation in September stood at 2.91%, broadly unchanged from August’s 2.92%.
(Polling by Renusri K. and Susobhan Sarkar; Writing by Stefanno Sulaiman; Editing by David Stanway)
