KL manufacturing sales fall

KL manufacturing sales fall

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysia's sales of manufactured goods
fell 9.7 percent year-on-year in June, the Statistics Department
said Thursday.

Sales for the month were valued at 26 billion ringgit (US$6.8
billion) against 28.8 billion ringgit in June last year. They
were down 1.1 percent from May.

Most analysts predict the economy will grow by less than half
the 8.5 percent rate of last year. The government in March
revised downwards its economic growth forecast this year to
between five and six percent, from seven percent previously.

The department of statistics said the number of people working
in the manufacturing sector fell 0.7 percent over the year to
June.

In a separate report, the department said inflation in
Malaysia rose 1.4 percent year-on-year in July.

In the seven months to July, inflation rose 1.5 percent
compared to the same period last year.