KL logs $152m trade surplus

KL logs $152m trade surplus

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysia logged a trade surplus of 700
million ringgit (US$152 million) in November against a deficit of
300 million ringgit a year earlier, the statistics department
said yesterday.

Exports grew by 30.9 percent to 11.6 billion ringgit while
imports rose 23. 1 percent to 21 billion ringgit, the department
said in date released through Bernama news agency.

November's surplus narrowed the trade deficit in the 11 months
of last year to 600 million ringgit from 1.3 billion ringgit a
year earlier, it said.

The department said Malaysia would have posted a trade surplus
of 800 million ringgit in November and a surplus of five billion
ringgit for the 11-month period if items such as ships and
aircraft were excluded.

For the January-November 1997 period, total exports expanded
by 10.4 percent year-on-year to 198.4 billion ringgit, with
electrical and electronic products contributing nearly half of
the earnings.