Economic sentiment gets a lift following news of above-expectation industrial production

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian economic sentiment received a further lift following the news that industrial production was announced above expectations.

In a statement yesterday, FXTM Vice President for Corporate Development and Market Research, Jameel Ahmad, said the pattern of Malaysian economic announcements showed the country’s underlying growth momentum remained robust, and most recently, underpinned by its strong manufacturing activity.

Jameel said the Malaysian economic sentiment received a further lift following the news that Industrial Production Index (IPI) was announced above expectations yesterday.

“By all accounts, it appears that the Malaysian economy has carried through the same robust momentum that saw the economy expand above expectations in quarter one, and it looks like this was the same story for the second quarter of 2017,” he said.

Malaysia’s IPI data released by the Statistics Department earlier today showed it rose by 4.6 per cent in May 2017 from the same month of 2016, supported by strong growth in the manufacturing and electricity sectors.

“The annualised industrial production release follows the same pattern from recent Malaysian economic announcements, where the data had exceeded expectations and this was especially the case with the trade balance report at the conclusion of last week,” he said.

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