Indonesia posted its first trade deficit since late 2015 in July, as imports surged more than exports did, the statistics bureau said on Tuesday.
Southeast Asia's largest economy had a trade deficit of $271.2 million in July. A Reuters poll had forecast a $1.1 billion surplus. June's trade surplus was revised on Tuesday to $1.67 billion.
During July, both exports and imports increased sharply on an annual basis, because of a low base from July 2016, when the Eid al-Fitr holidays at the end of the Muslim fasting month fell. This year, the holidays were in June.
In July this year, exports rose 41.12 percent on a yearly basis to $13.62 billion, compared with the median forecast in a Reuters poll of 31.12 percent. June's exports declined 11.71 percent from a year earlier.
July imports jumped 54.02 percent from last year to $13.89 billion. The poll had expected an increase of 30.34 percent. Imports declined 17.40 percent in June.