Malaysia’s economic landscape will remain moderate in the near term based on data in July and August, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM).
The department said Malaysia’s economy grew moderately by 4.2 percent in the first half of 2023.
Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the performance was influenced by the growth of 5.6 percent in the first quarter and 2.9 percent in the second quarter.
Total trade in July 2023 declined 14.4 percent from RM252.8 billion in the same month last year to RM216.4 billion. Exports shrank 13.1 percent to RM116.8 billion, while imports contracted 15.9 percent to RM99.7 billion.
The trade surplus increased by 7.9 percent from the previous year to RM17.1 billion.
In August 2023, Malaysia’s total trade recorded a value of RM213.0 billion, contracting 19.8 percent or RM52.7 billion, while exports and imports recorded negative double-digit growth, 18.6 percent and 21.2 percent, respectively, year-on-year.
On the other hand, the trade surplus increased slightly by 0.1 percent to RM17.3 billion.
Looking at the state of the country’s economy in July 2023, Malaysia’s Industrial Production Index (IPP) recovered to 0.7 percent in July 2023 from -2.2 percent in the previous month.
The slight increase in July 2023 supported by growth in the mining sector (4.2 percent) and the electricity sector (1.5 percent).
Meanwhile, the manufacturing sector remained negative, albeit at a lower rate of 0.2 percent.
At the same time, the sales value of the manufacturing sector amounted to RM144 billion in July 2023, down for the second consecutive month, to -3.0 percent year-on-year (y-o-y) from -4.0 percent in the previous month.
The performance affected by the continued decline in the petroleum, chemical, rubber, and plastics sub-sector, reaching -15.3 percent in the month.
The sales value of export-oriented industries, representing 72.1 percent of total sales, continued to decrease by 7.0 percent in July 2023 compared to June -7.4 percent.
However, the performance of domestically oriented industries remains vigorous, reaching 9.2 percent in July 2023 compared to 6.8 percent in June 2023, reducing the impact of the decline in export-oriented industries.
SOURCE: Sinar Harian
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