Malaysia's April factory output rises 4.0% y-o-y, beats forecast

[KUALA LUMPUR] Malaysia's industrial production index rose 4.0 per cent in April from a year earlier, faster than the previous month, government data showed on Tuesday.

April's annual output growth was higher than the 2.7 per cent median estimate by nine economists surveyed by Reuters. The pace was faster than March's growth of 3.1 per cent.

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

April's output growth was boosted by gains in the electricity, manufacturing and mining sectors, data from the Statistics Department showed.

Electricity output rose 5.8 per cent year-on-year, while the manufacturing sector index was up 4.3 per cent.

Mining output expanded 2.3 per cent on year, the data showed.

Malaysia's exports rose unexpectedly in April after two consecutive months of declines, helped by higher shipments of manufactured goods.

REUTERS