Malaysia posts first trade deficit after 22 years

Malaysia recorded its first monthly trade deficit since October 1997 (Photo: www.thestar.com.my)

Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – Malaysia recorded its first monthly trade deficit since October 1997 as exports contracted faster than imports.

Data from the country’s Department of Statistics on June 4 showed that exports in April fell 23.8 percent from the same period a year earlier to 64.9 billion ringgit (about 15.18 billion USD), the steepest decline since the global economic crisis in 2009.

Most of the country’s economic sectors were forced to close since the enforcement of the Movement Control Order on March 18.

Meanwhile, imports slipped 8 percent to 68.4 billion ringgit in the reviewed period.

Imports from Singapore saw the strongest decrease of 2.5 billion ringgit, followed by those from the European Union (2.1 billion ringgit), Thailand (1.7 billion ringgit) and Saudi Arabia (1.6 billion ringgit)

Malaysia's total trade value amounted to 133.34 billion ringgit in April, down 15.4 percent year-on-year and 9.9 percent compared to the previous month.

The country's balance recorded a deficit of 3.5 billion ringgit in the month, after 269 consecutive months of surplus./.