Malaysian Trade Surplus Shrinks Sharply

(RTTNews) - The Malaysian foreign trade surplus increased sharply in January from a year ago as imports grew faster than exports, data from the statistical office showed on Thursday.

The trade surplus dropped to MYR 3.6 billion in January from MYR 10.1 billion in the same month last year. The surplus also decreased from MYR 19.1 billion in December. The expected surplus was MYR 14.1 billion.

The annual growth in exports eased significantly to 0.3 percent from 16.9 percent in December. The slowdown in January was due to an 8.7 percent fall in re-exports.

Data showed that imports also rose at a slower pace of 6.2 percent annually versus an 11.9 percent surge in December.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, exports decreased 1.9 percent monthly in January, while imports advanced by 2.0 percent.