Rising exports of electrical products in August fueled Malaysia's largest monthly surplus this year of 8.99 billion ringgit (2.6 billion dollars), official data showed Thursday.

Exports in August were higher at 53.61 billion ringgit, up 0.3 percent a year earlier and 6.1 percent from July. August imports struck 44.61 billion ringgit, up 2.9 percent year-on-year and 4.9 percent from July

"Major product sectors which contributed to the significant increase in exports from the previous month were electrical and electronic products and wood products," it said.

The 12.7 percent surge in the August trade surplus from the previous month represented the 118 consecutive month of trade surplus since November 1997.

It said exports to the US, Malaysia's single largest trading partner, grew 7.5 percent from the previous month to 8.2 billion ringgit, supported by higher exports of electronic products.

Total trade in August was a record 98.22 billion ringgit, up 1.5 percent on an annualised basis.

For the first eight months, Malaysia's total trade rose two percent from a year earlier to 713.83 billion ringgit. The trade surplus for the eight months to August stood at 60.65 billion ringgit, it said.