JAKARTA (Dow Jones) — Indonesia's balance of payments (BoP) deficit narrowed in the fourth quarter from the previous quarter, helped partly by increased investment, the central bank data showed Friday.

The country posted a $3.73 billion balance of payments deficit in the fourth quarter, a slight improvement from the $3.96 billion deficit in the previous quarter.

"Pressures on the balance of payments subsequently eased in the fourth quarter following resumption in foreign portfolio investment inflows and significant increases in foreign direct investment," Bank Indonesia said in a statement.

Net foreign direct investment rose to $2.07 billion in the final quarter last year from $1.66 billion in the third quarter. The net foreign portfolio outflow during the quarter fell to $261 million from $4.67 billion in the previous quarter, when Indonesia, like other emerging countries, was hit by a wave of risk aversion.

Meanwhile, the country's current account swung to a deficit of $944 million in the fourth quarter, equal to about 0.4% of gross domestic product, from a $468 million surplus in the previous quarter.

"The fact that the current account has slipped into negative territory may be a concern given that export growth moderated at the end of last year. That said, we still take comfort in the fact that the primary external balance remains largely in the positive--especially if we look at the goods balance and the net FDI position," OCBC economist Gundy Cahyadi said.