Jakarta. Indonesia recorded a surplus of $6.5 billion in its balance of payments in the first quarter of the year, up by $1.8 billion from the fourth quarter of last year, the central bank announced on Tuesday.

“The strong performance of the balance of payments was supported by continued surpluses in the current account and capital and financial account,” Bank Indonesia spokesman Erwin Haryono said in a statement.

During the first quarter of 2023, the current account booked a surplus of $3 billion or 0.9 percent of the gross domestic product, narrowing from a surplus of $4.2 billion (1.3 percent of GDP) in the fourth quarter of 2022. 

Capital and financial transactions produced a surplus of $3.4 billion (1 percent of GDP), a significant increase from a surplus of $0.3 billion (0.1% of GDP) in the previous quarter, supported by incoming funds to domestic state bonds, Erwin said.

Foreign exchange reserves meanwhile stood at $145.2 billion in late March, up from $137.2 billion in December 2022.