Malaysian Trade Surplus Shrinks Sharply

(RTTNews) - The Malaysian foreign trade surplus decreased notably in July as imports grew much faster than exports, data from the statistical office showed on Monday.

The trade surplus shrank to MYR 6.4 billion in July from MYR 17.3 billion in the same month last year. The surplus also declined from MYR 14.3 billion in June.

Exports climbed 12.3 percent annually in July amid strong growth of 18.0 percent in domestic exports, while imports surged 25.4 percent.

Data showed that re-exports fell by 5.8 percent, and imports by end use recorded an increase for all three major categories.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, both exports and imports grew by 12.3 percent and 10.5 percent, respectively, from a month earlier.