Lumpy imports, coupled with an economic slowdown in certain countries, are among factors that contributed to the lower trade surplus for Malaysia in July.

The Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) chief executive officer Dzulkifli Mahmud said lumpy imports such as ships or aircraft, come once in a while, but these are investments good for the long term.

He said the economic slowdown in certain countries also affected the July trade performance.

“Exports to China, our largest trading partner is slowing down, with the Chinese government revamping the economy and boosting domestic consumption.

“We hope over the next five months, there will be an improvement (of exports) not only to China, but also other countries in the world,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the Cross-Border eCommerce: eTrade Accelerator Summit 2016 in Kuala Lumpur today.

The International Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti) in statistics released yesterday said Malaysia registered a trade surplus of RM1.91 billion in July, down from RM5.52 billion in June.

July exports declined by 5.3 percent year-on-year to RM59.85 billion, while imports contracted by 4.8 per cent to RM57.94 billion.

Exports to China also recorded the biggest drop of 22.3 percent, compared to a year ago, due to lower shipments of electric and electronic (E&E) products, petroleum products and natural rubber.

However, in the same month, exports to the United States rose by 4.1 percent, mainly driven by the optical and scientific equipment, palm oil and palm-based products.

“The US economy is doing well, and moving forward. We expect the country to take more products from Malaysia, particularly in the E&E segment, which is an important part of our exports,” he said.

Meanwhile, on the Budget 2017 to be tabled in Parliament on Oct 21, Dzulkifli believes it will include more measures to help small and medium companies, thus driving the country’s economic growth.

- Bernama