Malaysian Q3 GDP Growth Tops Expectations
2011-11-18 17:08:38
Malaysia's economic growth accelerated more than expected in the third quarter underpinned by robust demand, despite the challenging economic environment, data from the Department of Statistics revealed Friday.
Gross domestic product advanced 5.8 percent on a yearly basis after logging a revised 4.3 percent expansion in the previous quarter. Economists had expected 4.8 percent growth.
The service and manufacturing sectors were the main drivers of growth, logging 7 percent expansion and 5.1 percent increase, respectively. The annual growth in agriculture quickened to 8.2 percent from 6.9 percent.
Underpinned by the residential and civil engineering sectors, construction grew 3 percent after rising 0.6 percent a quarter ago. Meanwhile, mining and quarrying output fell 6.1 percent.
On the expenditure side, gross fixed capital formation registered 6.1 percent rise due to higher public sector capital spending. Driven by the expansion in private sector spending, domestic demand rose 9 percent. While the private consumption expenditure grew 7.3 percent, government final spending surged 21.7 percent.
Exports grew 4.2 percent backed by the products of petroleum. As for the imports, the growth in the third quarter remained at 3.2 percent due to the steady growth in the intermediate goods.
Going forward, the more challenging international environment could present greater downside risks to domestic growth prospects, the Malaysian central bank said.
Still growth in domestic demand is expected to continue to be the anchor of growth, underpinned by expansion in private spending and investment. Public spending and investment activity are expected to lend support to growth.
A separate report showed an improvement in the position of current account due to lower net payments on income and higher surplus on goods. The surplus rose MYR 3.2 billion to MYR 26.6 billion in the third quarter.
The surplus on goods increased to MYR 38.2 billion, the income account experienced lower net outlay of MYR 3.8 billion. Net payments on current transfers remained unchanged at MYR 5.3 billion. On the other hand, the services account experienced higher deficit of MYR 2.4 billion from MYR 0.7 billion.