KUALA LUMPUR- Malaysia’s industrial production index in April rose 6.1 percent from a year earlier, its fastest pace in 19 months, government data showed on Monday.
The rate was just short of the 6.2 percent expansion forecast by 12 economists surveyed in a Reuters poll, but was the quickest since September 2022, when the index climbed 10.8 percent .
The pace in April was driven by expansion in all three major sectors, the Statistics Department said in a statement.
The mining sector rose 10 percent from a year earlier, while the manufacturing and electricity generation sectors expanded 4.9 percent and 7.6 percent respectively, the department said.
Malaysia’s economy grew faster than expected in the first quarter of 2024, helped by household spending and a turnaround in exports, though some analysts said the rebound could be short-lived with price pressures set to increase.
Gross domestic product rose 4.2 percent in the January-March period from a year earlier, central bank and government data showed on Friday, surpassing the 3.9 percent growth forecast by a Reuters poll and advance estimates released by the government. Annual growth in the final quarter of 2023 was revised down slightly to 2.9 percent.
Exports rose 2.2 percent on an annual basis in the first quarter, after three consecutive quarters of contraction, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and the Statistics Department said at a joint press conference.
“Exports are expected to improve for the year… supported by sustained demand,” BNM Governor Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour said.
Risks to expansion include weaker-than-expected global growth, lower commodity prices, and further escalation of geopolitical conflicts, he said.
On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted basis, the Malaysian economy grew 1.4 percent, compared with a 1 percent contraction in the fourth quarter of last year, the data showed.
The central bank maintained its 2024 economic growth projection of 4 percent to 5 percent. The economy expanded 3.7 percent in 2023, a sharp drop from a 22-year high of 8.7 percent in 2022.
BNM projects headline inflation at 2 percent to 3.5 percent for the year, taking into account planned subsidy and price control adjustments, Abdul Rasheed said. Last year, it was 2.5 percent.
