Standard Chartered Expects Strong Export Growth For Malaysia In August

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 5 (Bernama) -- Standard Chartered Global Research expects strong export growth for Malaysia in August, and possibly helped by the weaker foreign exchange. "We expect exports to have risen 5.8 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) and more than 3.5 per cent in July," the research house said in a note Monday. It said exports in volume terms had been positive on a y-o-y basis recently with offtake to the US and China also having picked up strongly in July. By products, electronics exports rose strongly in June and July, while commodity exports were the main drag on export performance. The research firm believes the Malaysian ringgit's weakness against the US dollar also helped export performance in July, with trade data being reported in ringgit terms. Imports likely rose 2.2 per cent y-o-y as improving electronics exports likely required more intermediate-goods imports. "We expect the trade surplus to have increased to US$1.40 billion (RM6.2 billion) in August from US$545.82 million (RM2.4 billion) in July," it added. Malaysia will release the August trade data on Oct 7. --BERNAMA