(RTTNews) - Wednesday, the Department of Statistics Malaysia announced that the trade surplus stood at MYR 9.27 billion in September, down from MYR 9.57 billion in August. Economists expected a trade surplus of MYR 9.7 billion. This was the 143rd consecutive month of trade surplus since November 1997.

Exports declined 1.1% month-on-month to MYR 47.24 billion in September, while imports decreased 0.7% to MYR 37.97 billion.

On an annual basis, exports dropped 24.2% in September, compared to the 19.8% fall in the previous month. At the same time, imports slipped 20.2%, after falling 18.6% in August.

For the first nine months of the year, exports and imports decreased by 23% and 23.5%, respectively compared to the same period of the previous year. During the period, the trade surplus amounted to MYR 85.9 billion.

In the third quarter, exports increased 11.4% sequentially to MYR 143.85 billion, while imports grew 14.2% to MYR 17.18 billion. Year-on-year, exports and imports dropped by 22.3% and 18.3% respectively.

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