(Insider Stories) - Indonesia's trade deficit widened to $850 million in June from $590 million in May as weak global demand continued to hurt the nation's exports, the official Central Statistics Agency said Thursday. 

 

The agency said Indonesia's exports reached $14.74 billion in June, falling 4.5% from a year earlier, and 8.6% from a month earlier.

 

"The volume of our commodity exports actually increased [in June], but falling prices dragged the value of our exports," the chairman of the agency Suryamin said in a press conference. 

   

The agency said import fell 6.8% on year to $15.59 billion, and contracted 6.4% from a month earlier, due to decline in non-oil and non-gas imports.

 

Widening trade deficit will likely continue to weigh on the embattled rupiah, which consequently further complicates the central bank's efforts to rein in inflation, which rose to 8.61% on year in July, its highest level since January 2009.