August trade surplus grows

Resilient economy: The North Butterworth Container Termina in Butterworth, Penang. The export of E&E and rubber products rose 7.6% and 66.8% respectively to cushion the decline in overall exports.

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s trade surplus expanded 19.7% on a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis to RM13.23bil in August as higher exports of electrical and electronic (E&E) and rubber products cushioned the decline in overall exports.

Exports fell 2.9% y-o-y to RM79.14bil, according to the International Trade and Industry Miti (Miti), which underperformed the median estimate of a 4.9% expansion by a Bloomberg survey of economists.