Vendors wearing protective masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) wait for customers at a traditional market in Jakarta, Indonesia. - Reuters
JAKARTA, March 12 (Reuters): Indonesia's trade surplus likely widened in February from a month earlier on the back of higher commodity prices, which would be a 10th straight monthly surplus for South-East Asia's largest economy, according to a Reuters poll on Friday.
The median forecast of 12 economists in the poll was for the resource-rich country to record a US$2.21 billion trade surplus in February, up from US$1.96 billion in January.
The poll predicted export growth slowed to 8.73% annually last month from 12.24% in January, which Bank Mandiri analyst Faisal Rachman attributed to slowing demand in China balancing out higher prices of the country's main commodities such as palm oil and coal.