Indonesia Pays Price of Protectionism as Commodity Exports Sink
- Lower resource exports becoming drag on economic growth: DBS
- Commodities’ share of GDP has halved over past five years
A tug pulls a coal barge past the Islamic centre on August 26, 2016 in Samarinda, Kalimantan, Indonesia.
Photographer: Ed Wray/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Indonesia’s economy is losing out on commodity gains after lawmakers wrapped protectionist policies around the nation’s resources. Their next problem: finding a lucrative replacement.
Commodities now account for about 40 percent of all exports, down from almost 60 percent five years ago, according to Morgan Stanley. They make up just 6 percent of gross domestic product, half as much as in 2012, as trade restrictions worsened the impact of a price rout over much of that period. Crude oil and gas output has declined to levels last seen in the early 1970s.