THE Malaysian economy remained intact, shaped by the convincing performance of its gross domestic product (GDP), imports and exports, employment, as well as commodities data, mainly by the crude palm oil sector.

The GDP grew 8.9% in the second quarter of 2022 (Q2), far better than the 4.9% recorded in pre-pandemic Q2 2019, the Department of the Statistics Malaysia said.

While exports jumped 30% to RM336 billion in Q2, imports soared by 36.1% to RM394 billion, showing the strength of the economy.

The department said industrial production index (IPI) rose 6.9% in Q2 versus same period last year.

Concurrently, the sales value of manufacturing increased 17.4% year-on-year to RM444 billion, and revenue of the services sector was 25.2% stronger at RM507 billion.

Meanwhile, fresh fruit bunch (FFB) production showed an increase of 3.3% to 8.02 million tonnes in July 2022.

The number of people in employment went up 3.2% to 15.7 million, while unemployment rate stood at 3.9%, the department said.

“Based on the annual change of the leading index in June, Malaysia’s economy is in the direction of further growth in the coming months, in line with anticipated promising signs of strong domestic and export demand as well as the reopening of international borders,” it noted. – Bernama, August 30, 2022.