KUALA LUMPUR, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia's producer price index increased marginally in September after seven consecutive months of decline since February due to the base effect and higher prices of primary commodities, official data showed Thursday.
The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said in a statement that the country's producer price index rose 0.2 percent in September as compared to a contraction of 2.2 percent in August.
The marginal increase was contributed by all sectors except the manufacturing sector (-0.8 percent).
The agriculture, forestry and fishing sector increased by 3.2 percent, while the mining sector increased by 6.9 percent.
On a monthly basis, the producer price index for local production went up by 0.9 percent in September after no changes were recorded in August.
As for the third quarter, the producer price index continued to decline with a contraction of 1.4 percent, dragged by the mining (-2.8 percent) and manufacturing (-1.7 percent) sectors. ■
