Malaysian Industrial Production Grows Least In 5 Months

(RTTNews) - Malaysia's industrial output growth eased considerably in May amid a downturn in the mining sector, figures from the Department of Statistics showed on Friday.

Industrial production climbed 2.4 percent year-on-year in May, much slower than the 6.1 percent surge in the previous month. Further, this was the weakest rate of growth since December last year.

The moderation in expansion was primarily attributed to a 6.9 percent fall in mining output due to a double-digit decline of 10.3 percent in natural gas production.

Meanwhile, production in the manufacturing sector grew at a slightly slower pace of 4.6 percent after expanding 4.9 percent in the prior month. The annual growth in electricity production softened to 4.2 percent from 7.8 percent.

On a monthly basis, industrial production rebounded 3.5 percent, reversing a 7.6 percent decrease in April.