KONTAN.CO.ID - JAKARTA. Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Darmin Nasution was not satisfied with the trade balance surplus in February. According to him, the government needs to maintain the surplus so that it can continue.

"It seems that the government's hard work is still not enough. We still have to work harder to make the trade balance and balance sheet more consistently better," Darmin said when meeting reporters at his office on Friday (3/15).

The decline in imports caused the trade balance to surplus in February. Last month's imports were recorded at USD 12.20 billion, down 18.61% from the previous month. Compared to the same period last year, the import figure fell 14.02%.

According to Darmin, the government must keep imports from falling too sharply. "We must be able to maintain economic growth so that it is not affected by the decline in imports," he explained.

Darmin explained that imports could affect economic growth, although not immediately. It takes about one year to two years to reduce imports to influence economic growth. That means there is still room for the government to maintain growth.

The decline in imports occurred, according to Darmin, due to seasonal factors. Infrastructure development continues so that imports of infrastructure development materials are still ongoing.

The uncertain global economic situation also adds to the government's workload this year. Darmin highlighted the trade balance deficit from Indonesia's main export destinations. Japan and China each have a shortage of USD 413 million and USD 3.9 billion.

Editor: Hasbi Maulana