December 03, 2006	Sunday	Ziqa'ad 11, 1427

JAKARTA, Dec 2: Indonesia's trade surplus surged to $4.23 billion in October or 35.6 per cent from September's $3.12 billion, primarily due to a steep fall in imports because of a holiday, official data showed on Friday.

Exports in October rose slightly to $8.72 billion, little changed from $8.78 billion in September but imports fell 21 per cent to 4.49 billion from $5.66 billion in the previous month, Central Bureau of Statistics chief Rusman Heriawan said.

Heriawan said the fall in imports was largely due to the impact of a Muslim holiday, which reduced the number of working days during the month.

“This (fall in imports) is a normal pattern related to this religious festival,” he said.

He said he expected imports to return to normal levels in coming months.

In the first 10 months to October, imports increased 3.06 per cent year-on-year to $50.21 billion from 48.72 billion.

Japan topped the list of Indonesia's export destinations with exports worth $9.68 billion followed by the United States with $8.96 billion; Singapore $6.40 billion and China with $4.45 billion. —AFP