Analyst: Malaysia's Export Growth in May Well Above Expectations

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 4 (Bernama) -- Although the 10 per cent growth in Malaysia’s exports in June 2017 was less than expected, the growth in May was well above expectations, said FXTM Corporate Development and Market Research Vice President, Jameel Ahmad. “A number of previous trade balance reports had announced growth rates that surpassed expectations while exports had turned in a double-digit increase for seven consecutive months,” he said in a statement Friday. Jameel said this in response to the Ministry of International Trade and Industry’s (MITI) statement on the trade surplus released Friday. MITI said Malaysia's export growth continued to outpace import, with June 2017 trade surplus at RM9.88 billion, marking the 236th consecutive month of trade surplus since November 1997 and the highest surplus since April 2016. Exports in June 2017 also indicated a stronger year-on-year growth than imports for the second straight month. He said the Malaysian economy had surpassed expectations so far in 2017 and growth in export demand was one of the key drivers behind this achievement. “I’m optimistic that the gross domestic product reading scheduled for this coming Aug 18 will show that the economy is still growing at an impressive pace,” he said. FXTM is a world renowned foreign exchange dealer that provides market research, analysis and overview reports to its investors -- BERNAMA