KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s March exports likely grew at a much slower pace from the previous month as weak demand and commodity prices crimped shipments, a Reuters poll showed.
The poll’s median forecast was for exports to be only 0.4% larger than a year earlier, while February shipments were 6.7% higher. Forecasts in the poll ranged from an annual decline of 5.0% to a rise of 2.1%.
Malaysia’s March imports were forecast to rise 0.6% from a year earlier, slowing from February’s 1.6% annual growth.
The March trade surplus was seen at 7.1 billion ringgit (US$1.79 billion), down from 7.4 billion ringgit the previous month.