Antara, Indonesia
akarta, (ANTARA News) – Domestic demand for textiles and garments fell 27 percent in the first quarter of 2014 due to high inflation resulting in a decline in the people`s purchasing power, an executive said.
“Domestic sales particularly garment sales fell due to low consumption,” Indotextile Executive Director Redma Gita Wiraswasta said on Tuesday.
Textile and garment sales in the first quarter of 2014 reached US$2.88 billion, with exports to the US contributing the biggest chunk to foreign exchange earnings from textile and garment exports, he said.
Textile and garment exports to the US accounted for 40 percent of the total figure, he said.
The European Union trailed behind in second place, buying 16 percent of Indonesia`s textiles and garments over the period. This was followed by ASEAN member countries (7 percent) and Japan (5 percent).
Meanwhile, domestic sales contributed around 6 six percent or US$0.16 billion to the textile and garment sales, down 27 percent from the same period last year when it reached US$0.22 billion, he said.
He predicted the domestic textile and garment market would stagnate until the end of this year following Bank Indonesia`s two-digit inflation forecast for this year.(*)
