KUALA LUMPUR, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The leading index in Malaysia continued to inch up 2.3 percent in March, reflecting an optimistic economic growth in the near future, official data showed Friday.
The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said in a statement that the leading index, which provides an early indication of significant turning points in the business cycle and the direction of the economy in the near term, remained in positive growth for four consecutive months, rising to 112.2 points in March from 109.7 points a year ago.
According to the DOSM, the increase for the month was driven by strong performance of the Bursa Malaysia Industrial Index (25.4 percent) and real imports of other basic precious and other non-ferrous metals (24.8 percent).
Nevertheless, the monthly change of the leading index dropped 0.5 percent, owing to unfavorable performance by the number of housing units approved (-0.7 percent) and real imports of semiconductors (-0.4 percent).
It is noted that the smoothed growth rate of the leading index for March 2024 is consistently above the trend, surpassing 100 points, reflecting an optimistic Malaysian economy in line with robust private consumption and external trade recovery.
As for the current economic position, the coincident index continued its positive growth by registering 125 points, growing 2.3 percent compared to 122.2 points a year earlier.
Four components contributed positively to the latest increase, especially the real contributions of the Employees Provident Fund (19.6 percent).
The monthly coincident index also recorded an increase of 0.6 percent, supported by all components except the total employment in manufacturing (-0.1 percent). ■
