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.