Malaysia Trade Surplus Shrinks To MYR 19.56 Bln

(RTTNews) - Malaysia's trade surplus decreased slightly in February, as imports grew faster than exports, data from the statistical office showed on Monday.

The trade surplus dropped to MYR 19.56 billion in February from MYR 19.81 billion in the same month last year. In January, the trade surplus was MYR 18.1 billion.

Further, the trade balance remained in surplus for the thirty-fourth consecutive month in February, the agency said.

Exports increased 9.8 percent yearly in February, faster than the 1.4 percent gain in the previous month.

The overall increase in shipments was mainly driven by both domestic and re-exports. Domestic exports grew 9.8 percent and re-exports logged a sharp annual expansion of 37.6 percent.

Within total exports, manufacturing products contributed a major share of outflows, at 85.0 percent. This was followed by an 8.2 percent share of mining related goods.

At the same time, Imports climbed at a comparatively faster pace of 12.4 percent annually in February, after a 2.2 percent growth in the previous month.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, both exports and imports fell by 0.3 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively, from a month earlier.