Jakarta (Antara) - Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan said the country's trade deficit could widen and reach billions of US dollars this year with growing oil and gas imports. "I think the trade deficit could reach up to US$3 billion this year or up from US$1.6 billion last year," Gita said here on Friday. Increase in exports of commodities other than oil and gas was not enough to make up for fast growing imports of oil and gas, he said. One way of curbing the deficit this year is by coping with excess in domestic consumption of subsidized oil fuels, he said, suggesting an increase in oil fuel prices. "Without increase in oil fuel prices, the trade deficit will widen," he said. The Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) said the country suffered a trade deficit of US$327.4 million in February bringing the total deficit to US$402.1 million in the first two months of the year. "The deficit has been caused mainly by growing imports of oil and gas," BPS chief Suryamin said. The deficit in oil and gas trade was US$2.417 billion in the two months period with crude oil contributing US$527.3 million and oil products (premium gasoline) contributing US$4.38 billion with a surplus of US$2.47 billion in gas trade.(*) A. Saragih/F. Assegaf Surplus in trade of commodities outside oil and gas sector was US$2.015 billion in the same period.(*)


Editor : Chandra Hamdani Noer
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