Bank Indonesia signals a deepening crisis for Bali exporters. Bali Post reports that the Island’s tourism economy did well during Q1 of 2008 attracting 446,553 foreign visitors, an improvement of 24.48% over the same quarter the previous year.

However, while Bali’s tourism business is increasingly buoyant, exports from the island are down.

According to a quarterly report form Bank Indonesia, the sheer increase in foreign visitors to Bali testifies to the growing faith in the destination, the average length of stay in Bali has decreased to just 3.65 days.

Bali’s Declining Exports

Bank Indonesia’s statisticians have issued warning signals that economic slow downs in developed countries, such as the United States, are raising fears that Bali’s export markets may be adversely affected by the ailing world economy. Further suggesting that Bali’s exports may be under threat are export figures covering the first two months of 2008 showing total exports of US$47.5 million, a decline of 10.37% over the same period last year. The biggest decline in exports were tracked to declining purchases by two of Bali’s largest export markets, Japan and the United States.

Positive Balance of Trade

Despite declining exports, Bali continues to log a very positive balance of trade. During the first two months of 2008 Bali imported US$7.42 million resulting in a positive trade balance of US$40.08 million for that period.

News by Bali Discovery Tours – balidiscovery.com