MALAYSIA’S economy is expected to continue to moderate in the near term based on data in July and August, the Department of Statistics Malaysia said.

It said the economy showed moderate growth during the first half of 2023, expanding by 4.2%.

Chief statistician Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the half-year performance came after a 5.6% growth in the first quarter and 2.9% in the second quarter.

“Total trade in July 2023 declined 14.4% to RM216.4 billion from RM252.8 billion in the same month last year,” he said in a statement today, in conjunction with the release of the Malaysian Economic Statistics Review.

“Exports shrank 13.1% to RM116.8 billion while imports contracted 15.9% to RM99.7 billion.

“The trade surplus increased 7.9% from the previous year to RM17.1 billion.”

Malaysia’s total trade registered a value of RM213 billion, with a contraction of 19.8% or RM52.7 billion, while exports and imports recorded a contraction of 18.6% and 21.2% respectively year-on-year.

On the contrary, the trade surplus increased marginally by 0.1% to RM17.3 billion.

Uzir said Malaysia’s Industrial Production Index rebounded to 0.7% in July, from a -2.2% in the previous month.

He said the marginal increase was supported by the growth in the mining sector (4.2%) and electricity sector (1.5%).

The manufacturing sector remained negative, although at a lower rate of 0.2%.

The value of manufacturing sales in Malaysia totalled RM144 billion in July, down for a second consecutive month, decreasing to -3% year-on-year from -4% in the preceding month.

The performance was primarily influenced by the continuous decline in the petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic sub-sector, reaching -15.3% during the month.

The sales value of export-oriented industries, which represented 72.1% of total sales, continued to decline by 7% in July versus June’s -7.4%.

“Nonetheless, the performance of domestic-oriented industries remained vigorous, reaching 9.2% in July, compared to 6.8% in June, mitigating the impact of the deterioration in the export-oriented industries,” Uzir said. – Bernama, September 27, 2023.