Malaysia’s exports and imports rise more than expected in Feb

According to the Department of Statistics, Malaysia’s exports and imports climbed more than expected on a yearly basis.

The data showed that the country’s exports rose by 26.5% on an annual basis in February, which was faster than the economists’ forecasts of an increase of 15.1%. The largest contribution to the annual increase came from the shipments of palm oil and palm oil based products by 62.8% and from shipments of electrical and electronic products by 22.4%.

The country’s exports also increased by 2.1% in February on a monthly basis.

The data also showed that the country’s imports increased by 27.7% year-on-year in February, which was higher than the estimates which called for an increase of 19.5%. The largest contribution to the rise in imports in February was from intermediate goods and capital goods.

However, imports were down by 3.8% in February month-on-month.

The trade surplus of the country jumped to MYR 8.7 billion ($1.96 billion) in February from MYR 7.4 billion ($1.66 billion) in the same month of last year. The trade surplus also exceeded the estimates of MYR 7.19 billion ($1.62 billion).