JAKARTA ~ Indonesia’s trade surplus dropped to US$3.06 billion in November from $4.23 billion in October as import growth outpaced export growth, official data showed this week.

Central Bureau of Statistics head Rusman Heriawan said exports hit a new record high of $8.92 billion in November. The previous record was $8.89 billion, set in August.

Imports in November bounced back from their fall in October, rising 31 percent month-on-month to $5.86 billion from $4.49 billion dollars.

Heriawan said Indonesia could be on target for a record $100 billion in exports during 2006.

He said the cumulative value of exports from January to November had risen by 17.61 percent year-on-year to $91.19 billion.

The value of exports in December was usually higher than in November, he said, suggesting that last year exports might have exceeded $100 billion for the first time.

“Can we reach $100 billion? To make it happen, we only need around $8.8 billion in December,” he told reporters.

“Historically, from 1997 to 2005, December exports were higher than November’s. So figure it out yourself,” he said.