Balance of payment surplus predicted to continue this year
Sabtu, 13 Agustus 2016 11:58 WIB | 760 Views
Batam, Riau Islands (ANTARA News) - Bank Indonesia Governor Agus Martowardojo predicted the country would continue to chalk up surplus in its balance of payments for the rest of the year sustained by strong inflows in capital and financial account.
The countrys balance of payments left a surplus of US$2.2 billion in the second quarter of this year as against a deficit of US$300 million in the previous quarter.
"The surplus in the second quarter of this year was mainly as a result of capital and financial account. We see that it would continue for the rest of this year," Agus said here on Friday.
Agus, however, gave no figure in his prediction for the balance of payment surplus in the remaining two quarters of this year.
Bank Indonesia described the surplus in the second quarter of this year as encouraging after a deficit in the previous three month period.
The balance of payment is an indicator gauging economic transactions between a country and other countries including in current account, capital account and financial account.
According to Communication Executive Director of the Central Bank Tirta Segara, the surplus in the country balance of payments in the second quarter showed improvement in the countrys economic external balance , and helps sustain macro economic stability.
Tirta said the surplus was party attributable to a decline in the countrys current account deficit to US$4.7 billion (2 percent of the GDP) from US$4.8 billion in the first quarter of this year.
The current account deficit declined as a result of an increase in the trade surplus for commodities outside oil and gas.
Meanwhile deficit was still recorded in the oil and gas trade on shrinking oil production.
"Deficit in service account rose to follow the low seasonal pattern of service account," Tirta said.
The surplus in the capital and financial account in the second quarter of 2016 reached US$7.4 billion , up from US$4.6 billion in the previous quarter.
"This was sustained by inflows of portfolio investment capital. Net portfolio investment capital grew significantly to US$8.4 billion in the second quarter of 2016," he said.
The increase in the portfolio investment was attributable largely to the sales of global bond by the government and foreign net buy at stock market and rupiah state securities market. (*)
http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/106231/balance-of-payment-surplus-predicted-to-continue-this-year
Indonesian researchers breed anti-dengue mosquitoes
Kamis, 11 Agustus 2016 08:59 WIB | 738 Views
Solo, C. Java (ANTARA News) - Indonesian researchers from Gadjah Mada University, in collaboration with Eliminate Dengue Project (EDP) Yogayakarta are breeding mosquitoes with Wolbachia, a natural bacterium present in up to 60 percent of all species of insects, including mosquitoes.
"Wolbachia-containing mosquitoes do not transmit the dengue virus to humans," a researcher from EDP, Prof. Utarini said here Wednesday.
Wolbachia are bacteria that only live inside insect cells. However, they are not usually found in the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the primary species responsible for transmitting human viruses such as dengue, chikungunya, and zika.
Mosquito eggs will hatch and become adult mosquitoes, then they will mate with local mosquitoes and generate mosquitoes that contains Wolbachia, she explained.
In a certain period of time most Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in Yogyakarta will contain Wolbachia, which will ensure that the mosquitoes do not transmit the dengue virus to humans, Utarini added.
Breeding Wolbachia-containing mosquitoes is an effort to reduce the number of dengue cases, according to her.
Moreover, dengue has been a serious issue in Indonesia since 1960.
Breeding mosquitoes with Wolbachia is a safe, efficient, sustainable and environmentally friendly method in eradicating dengue, Utarini remarked.
"If mosquitoes in a certain area have contained Wolbachia, then the method is no longer reapplied," she said, and added that Wolbachia-containing mosquitoes will naturally breed in Aedes aegypti populations.
Yogyakarta has been chosen for the research as it has a high number of dengue cases, has a dense population, and Aedes aegypti are found throughout the year in all sub districts, Utarini said.
Wolbachia is a new promising technology to suppress the replication of dengue, chikungunya and zika viruses in Aedes aegypti, the World Health Organization (WHO) stated March 2016.(*)
http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/106191/indonesian-researchers-breed-anti-dengue-mosquitoes