Trade surplus in March rose 8.2 percent from February with both exports and imports reaching record highs, the trade ministry said today.

Total exports in March grew 16.9 percent year-on-year and were up 22.3 percent from February to hit a record RM38.76 billion ringgit fueled by rising global demand, the ministry said in a statement.

Imports for the month grew at an even faster pace, up 28.4 percent year-on-year and up 25 percent from February to a record RM33.21 billion as the country bought more capital and intermediate goods to support increasing production, it said.

March's trade surplus came to RM5.54 billion, up from RM5.13 billion in February but down from RM7.31 billion a year ago, the ministry said. It marked the 77th consecutive monthly trade surplus since November 1997.

For the first quarter of the year, Malaysia's trade surplus dropped 18.7 percent from a year earlier to RM16.43 billion.

The ministry said March exports were supported by an improving global economic outlook, with expansion in almost all major markets.

Growing figures

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), the United States, the European Union, Japan, China and Hong Kong collectively absorbed 78 percent of Malaysia's exports for the month.

Exports to Asean grew 20.4 percent from February to RM10.21 billion, the US was up 15.6 percent to RM6.55 billion, the EU 19.7 percent to RM4.66 billion, Japan 13.2 percent to RM3.64 billion and China rose nearly 30 percent to RM2.67 billion.

After two consecutive months of decline, exports to Hong Kong rebounded in March to grow 73 percent to RM2.53 billion.

The ministry said all major products recorded increased exports, with manufactures up 23.6 percent from February to RM30.33 billion or 78.3 percent of total exports.

"The ongoing upswing of the electronics sector saw significant growth in exports of electrical and electronics products, up 23.5 percent to RM18.91 billion from the previous month or up 10.8 percent year-on-year," it added.

Malaysia's exports in 2003 grew 11.5 percent to surpass the US$100 billion mark for the first time and the government expects that to be sustained this year to support economic growth of 6.0-6.5 percent. - AFP