JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia's trade surplus is expected to have narrowed in April as imports rose amid celebrations for the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr, a Reuters poll showed on Tuesday.
The poll, which surveyed 19 economists between May 8 and May 14, indicated a trade surplus of $3.30 billion last month, compared with $4.47 billion in March, when it recorded a higher-than-expected surplus due to shrinking imports.
Southeast Asia's largest economy has been enjoying monthly trade surpluses since mid-2020 due to strong exports of its main commodities such as coal, palm oil and nickel, but they have been narrowing due to weakening global demand.
Both exports and imports were expected to rise in April, reversing the contractions reported in March.
Economists in the poll predicted April exports grew by 4.57% on an annual basis, after contracting 4.19% in the previous month.
Imports were seen rising by 8.68% year-on-year after shrinking 12.76% in March.
(Polling by Devayani Sathyan; Writing by Stefanno Sulaiman; Editing by Sonali Paul)
