KUALA LUMPUR: The effect of the cheaper ringgit, which helped Malaysian export growth buck regional trends and surge 16.7% year-on-year (y-o-y) in October, will still be seen in the remaining two months of the year, before tapering off when the local currency stages a rebound next year, said analysts.
Supported by demand for electrical and electronic products, Malaysian exports rose 16.7% to RM75.8 billion in October, the highest y-o-y growth since April 2014, and close to double the 8.8% that was seen in September, beating analysts’ estimates of a growth of between 8.4% and 8.9%, and marking October as the fifth consecutive month of export expansion.
In comparison, Japanese exports fell 2.1% in October, while China’s exports slipped 6.9%, the fourth consecutive month of decline. In Southeast Asia, Singapore’s October exports slipped 0.5%, while Thailand’s fell 8.11%. Indonesian exports also slumped 20.98%.
