Malaysia Trade Surplus Falls In April

(RTTNews) - Malaysia's trade surplus decreased in April with exports and imports increasing at softer paces, data from the statistical office showed on Thursday.

Exports rose 20.7 percent year-on-year in April, after a 25.3 percent growth in March. Economists had expected a growth of 19.7 percent.

Imports increased 22.0 percent year-on-year in April, after a 29.9 percent rise in the previous month. Economists had forecast a rise of 22.0 percent.

The trade surplus decreased to MYR 23.548 billion in April from MYR 26.648 billion in March. In the same month last year, the surplus was MYR 20.359 billion.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, exports declined 2.8 percent monthly in March and imports fell 3.3 percent.