KL trade deficit narrows

KL trade deficit narrows

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysia trade deficit narrowed to 747.1 million ringgit (US$299 million) in February from a hefty 1.1 billion ringgit a month earlier, the statistics department said Thursday.

The combined deficit for the first two months of the year was 1.9 billion ringgit, sharply up from 325.4 million recorded in the same period a year earlier. The preliminary figures were released through Bernama news agency.

Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had confirmed Tuesday the February trade balance was in deficit without revealing the size of the shortfall.

Fears that Malaysia's February trade balance was still in deficit after the huge January shortfall had been blamed in recent weeks for denting investor sentiment on the local bourse.

Anwar, who is also finance minister, last month attributed January's huge shortfall to increased food and car imports ahead of the Moslem Id-al-Fitr festival and the Chinese Lunar New year.