Grace D. Amianti, Jakarta – Indonesia may see its non-oil and gas exports grow less than this year's target because of weak demand from several destination countries.

The country's non-oil and gas exports are predicted to grow by only 3.2 percent this year, lower than the government's target of 5.6 percent, which would have brought their value up to $136.2 billion, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

The government's target was actually downward revision from a previous estimate of 11.9 percent.

"Indonesia can increase its exports by 3.2 percent this year, although the country is actually able to get to between 4 and 5 percent if there are no protectionist measures from the United States and the United Kingdom post-Brexit," said Yose Rizal Damuri, head of the economics department at CSIS, during a press conference on Wednesday.

The protectionist measures he refers to are the policies US president-elect Donald Trump campaigned on last year, as well as the UK's decision to leave the European Union last year.

Rizal said the US, along with China and the EU, remained the major trade partners that would offer Indonesia a potential recovery this year. Apart from finding alternative markets, it is important for Indonesia to maintain its market share of exports in those countries.

From January to November last year, earnings from exports amounted to $130.65 billion, down 5.63 percent from 2015, although the overall trade balance was in a surplus of $7.79 billion, according to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS). (bbn)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/01/11/exports-predicted-to-be-lower-than-target-expert.html