Malaysia's August IPI Up 4.9 Pct

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 12 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's Industrial Production Index (IPI) grew by 4.9 per cent year-on-year in August this year, mainly driven by a positive growth in the manufacturing, mining and electricity indices. In a statement Wednesday, the Statistics Department said the manufacturing sector output expanded further by 4.6 per cent in August, as compared with an increase of 3.3 per cent in July 2016. "The major sub-sectors which recorded growth in August were electrical and electronics products (7.9 per cent), petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic products (4.5 per cent), as well as non-metallic mineral products, basic metal and fabricated metal products (4.6 per cent)," it said. The department said the mining sector's output also recorded a growth of 4.3 per cent in August after a 6.1 per cent rise in the previous month. "The expansion in August was supported by an increase in the crude oil and natural gas indices at 6.5 per cent and 1.5 per cent respectively," it added. The electricity sector's output expanded significantly by 11.4 per cent in August, following an increase of 7.1 per cent recorded in July. -- BERNAMA