KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's economy is expected to continue to moderate in the near term, based on data in July and August, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the leading index (LI) for July 2023 recorded a better negative 0.9 per cent reaching 109.0 points compared to negative 2.1 per cent in June 2023.
The LI recorded negative 0.7 per cent for the reference month against a negative 0.5 per cent in the previous month.
"The smoothed growth rate of the LI continues below the 100.0 points trend in July 2023, reflecting Malaysia's economic prospect to remain moderate in the near term backed by challenging global outlook," he said in a statement, in conjunction with the release of the Malaysian Economic Statistics Review (MESR).
On the trade front, Malaysia's merchandise trade continued to register a negative annual growth.
Total trade in July 2023 declined 14.4 per cent from RM252.8 billion in the same month last year to RM216.4 billion.
Exports shrank 13.1 per cent to RM116.8 billion, while imports contracted 15.9 per cent to RM99.7 billion.
Meanwhile, trade surplus increased 7.9 per cent from the previous year to RM17.1 billion.
In August, Malaysia's total trade registered a value of RM213.0 billion, a contraction of 19.8 per cent or RM52.7 billion.
Exports and imports recorded a negative double-digit growth of 18.6 per cent and 21.2 per cent respectively, year-on-year.
On the contrary, trade surplus increased marginally by 0.1 per cent to post a value of RM17.3 billion.
Mohd Uzir said observing the country's economic situation in July, the Industrial Production Index (IPI) rebounded to 0.7 per cent in July 2023, from a negative 2.2 per cent in the previous month.
Meanwhile, he said the manufacturing sector remained negative, although at a lower rate of 0.2 per cent.
"Nonetheless, the performance of domestic-oriented industries remained vigorous, reaching 9.2 per cent in July 2023 as compared to 6.8 per cent in June 2023, mitigating the impact of the deterioration in the export-oriented industries," he added.
Source: https://www.nst.com.my/business/economy/2023/09/960695/malaysias-economy-continue-%C2%A0moderating-says-chief-statistician