Bareksa.com - Indonesia's current account deficit this year is expected to remain unchanged at 3.3 percent of gross domestic product compared with last year due to a drop in coal exports and rising fuel imports, the deputy central bank governor told Reuters.
Bank Indonesia earlier this year had predicted the current account deficit would be below 3 percent, but did not anticipate such a large drop in coal and mineral shipments.
"We are happy to see (strong) manufacturing exports but the decline in not only minerals, but also coal is still high," deputy governor Mirza Adityaswara said.
He said the current account deficit in the second quarter would be around 4 percent of GDP. The central bank will announce its second quarter balance of payments figure in mid-August.
Adityaswara also forecast inflation at 5.3 percent this year, down from 8.38 percent in 2013 but at the higher end of the central bank's 3.5-5.5 percent target this year. (Source : Reuters)