Malaysia's Jan factory output up 3.2% y-o-y, above forecast

[KUALA LUMPUR] Malaysia's industrial production grew faster than expected in January, climbing 3.2 per cent from a year earlier, government data showed on Thursday.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast January's annual output growth to come in at 2.4 per cent.

The pace was slightly slower than December's growth, which came in at 3.4 per cent annually.

The index measures factory output from the manufacturing, electricity generation and mining sectors.

Growth in January was supported by gains in the manufacturing and electricity sectors, data from the Statistics Department showed.

Manufacturing output rose 4.2 per cent year-on-year in January, while the electricity generation sectoral index grew 7.8 percent.

Mining output was down 0.9 per cent, the data showed.

Malaysia's exports grew 3.1 per cent year-on-year in January, better than expected but slower than December's 4.8 per cent expansion.

REUTERS