Trade surplus narrows

Container ships sit docked next to gantry cranes at Port Klang in this aerial photograph taken over Klang district, Selangor, Malaysia, on Saturday, Jan. 9, 2016. Photographer Sanjit Das/Bloomberg

PETALING JAYA: Despite the year-on-year (y-o-y) plunge in Malaysia’s trade balance to RM10.9bil for February, representing a 44.4% decline, economists remain optimistic about the country’s external sector.

According to the Statistics Department, the country’s trade balance, which is Malaysia’s net sum of its export and import of goods, declined as exports dipped by 0.8% or RM939.5mil, while imports went up a more significant 8.4% to RM100.5bil.