KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 24 — Malaysia’s Leading Index (LI) saw a 0.2 per cent decrease to 109.8 points in November 2023 as compared to 110.0 points in the same month of the previous year, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said that looking at the smoothed long-term trend in November 2023, the LI remained below the 100.0 point trend.
Malaysia’s economy is foreseen to maintain its moderate growth supported by the resilient performance of domestic-oriented-industries, despite continuing to face the uncertainty of the international market.
The LI is a tool utilised for predicting economic trends four to six months ahead.
He said the LI decline in November 2023 is due to the unfavourable performance in the number of housing units approved (-25.8 per cent) and real imports of semiconductors (-18.3 per cent).
However, the Bursa Malaysia Industrial Index grew 17.1 per cent and has remained positive since May 2023.
The monthly performance of the LI rebounded by 0.5 per cent as compared to negative 0.1 per cent in October 2023, driven by a significant increase in real imports of semiconductors (1.0 per cent).
As for the current economic position, Uzir said the Coincident Index (CI) recorded 123.7 points, an increase of 2.6 per cent compared to 120.3 points in the same month of the preceding year.
“This performance was contributed by all components, mainly the Real Contributions Value, Employees Provident Fund (13.7 per cent).
“In contrast to the annual performance, the monthly CI shrank by a negative 0.3 per cent, influenced by lacklustre performances in all components except for Real Salaries and Wages in Manufacturing (0.1 per cent),” he said in a statement today.
— Bernama
