Malaysia's March exports fall 4.7% y-o-y, smaller drop than forecast

[KUALA LUMPUR] Malaysia's exports fell 4.7 per cent from a year earlier in March, amid coronavirus-related movement restrictions, government data showed on Monday.

The decline, however, was smaller than the 8 per cent fall forecast by analysts surveyed by Reuters. Exports in February had risen 11.8 per cent, the strongest on-year growth in 16 months.

Imports were down 2.7 per cent year-on-year, after surging 11.3 per cent in February.

The trade surplus in March narrowed slightly to RM12.3 billion (S$4 billion) from RM12.6 billion in the previous month.

REUTERS