KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 24 – Malaysia’s latest leading index, a tool utilized for predicting economic trends for an average of four to six months ahead, showed modest economic growth in the near future.
The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said in a statement on Wednesday that Malaysia witnessed a decrease in the leading index by a negative 0.2 percent to 109.8 points in November 2023 as compared to 110 points in the same month of the previous year.
The decline is owing to the unfavorable performance in the number of housing units approved (-25.8 percent) and real imports of semiconductors (-18.3 percent).
However, the Bursa Malaysia Industrial Index showed a growth of 17.1 percent and remained positive since May 2023.
The monthly performance of the leading index rebounded by 0.5 percent as compared to negative 0.1 percent in the previous month, driven by a significant increase in real imports of semiconductors (1 percent).
“Looking at the smoothed long-term trend in November 2023, Malaysia’s economy is foreseen to maintain its moderate growth supported by the resilient performance of domestic-oriented industries despite continuing to face the uncertainty of the international market,” said the DOSM.
As for the current economic position, the coincident index recorded 123.7 points, an increase of 2.6 percent as compared to 120.3 points in the same month of the preceding year.
This performance was contributed by all components, mainly the real contributions value, Employee Provident Fund (13.7 percent).
In contrast to the annual performance, the monthly coincident index shrank by a negative 0.3 percent, influenced by lackluster performances in all components except for real salaries and wages in manufacturing which grew 0.1 percent.
