Exports still slow: BPS

Aditya Suharmoko, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 11/02/2009 3:48 PM

Exports in September declined as business activities slowed during the fasting month, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) reported Monday.

After reaching above US$10 billion (Rp 100 trillion) in August for the first time this year, exports again declined to $9.83 billion in September, a 19.92 percent drop from a year earlier, BPS head Rusman Heriawan said in a press conference.

"What made exports not fall too deeply (in value) was mining products," he said, adding that most of them were coal.

In the first nine months of this year, exports reached $80.13 billion. Imports reached $68.33 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $11.8 billion.

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