Jakarta. Indonesia’s balance of payments posted a $6.3 billion surplus in 2023, according to Bank Indonesia.

This marked an increase from the $4 billion surplus the previous year. The central bank attributed the significant growth to the strong capital and financial account performance.

“The current account in 2023 recorded a manageable deficit of $1.6 billion [0.1 percent of the gross domestic product or GDP], after registering a $13.2 billion surplus [1 percent of GDP] in 2022,” Bank Indonesia spokesperson Erwin Haryono said in a statement on Thursday.

“These developments were mainly influenced by a lower goods trade surplus in line with global economic moderation and lower commodity prices, coupled with solid domestic demand,” Erwin said.

According to the press release, the capital and financial account registered a $8.7 billion surplus in 2023 to reverse the $8.7 billion deficit recorded the previous year. This is supported by the surpluses in both direct investment and portfolio investment despite persistent global financial market uncertainty.  

“The position of reserve assets at the end of December 2023 increased to $146.4 billion from $137.2 billion at the end of December 2022, equivalent to 6.5 months of imports and servicing government external debt, well above the international adequacy standard of around three months of imports,” Erwin said.

Indonesia’s balance of payments saw $8.6 billion surplus in the fourth quarter of 2023. Bank Indonesia reported that this marked a significant improvement from the $1.5 billion deficit in the third quarter of last year.

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