Malaysia chalks up surplus

Malaysia chalks up surplus

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysia posted its 10th trade surplus in a row in August, the government said Thursday, with analysts expecting a further improvement in exports with the frozen ringgit offset by surges in other Southeast Asian currencies.

The trade surplus rose to 6.3 billion ringgit (US$1.65 billion) in August from a year earlier, the official Bernama news agency reported, citing the statistics department.

The 10th consecutive monthly surplus was on the back of a 25.4 percent increase in exports to 24.38 billion ringgit and a 0.9 percent dip in imports to 18.13 billion ringgit, the department said.

For the first eight months of 1998, Malaysia's trade surplus jumped to 32. 4 billion ringgit compared with a deficit of 2.5 billion ringgit during the same period a year earlier.