Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Bank Indonesia (BI) has forecast the countrys balance of trade to record a surplus of US$785 million in December 2013, up from US$776.8 million the month before.

"Based on the data, the surplus will be US$785 million in December 2013 as compared to US$776.8 million in November 2013," Bank Indonesia Deputy Governor Perry Warjiyo stated at the group discussion forum with the media here on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the non-oil/non-gas trade is expected to see a surplus of US$2.2 billion in December 2013 as compared to US$1.96 billion a month earlier, he noted.

"The balance of trade will record a higher surplus in December and a similar trend is expected in the non-oil/non-gas trade," he remarked.

The results of a research conducted by the central bank suggested that the balance of trade was forecast to reach a surplus of US$1.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2013, he claimed.

Meanwhile, the non-oil/non-gas trade was expected to enjoy a surplus of US$5 billion in the fourth quarter.

"This is very favorable when compared to the surplus of the non-oil/non-gas trade in the third quarter of 2013, which reached US$1 billion," he noted.

The improving trade balance is intrinsically linked to the rising commodity prices in the global market during the past few weeks, he pointed out. (*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2014