KUALA LUMPUR, June 24 — Malaysia’s trade growth for this year is likely to be closer to Bank Negara’s forecast of 3.4 per cent, Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said today.
He said this was due to the country posting growth in trade at only 1.8 per cent in the first four months of this year, far below the ministry’s expectation.
“It’s going to be nearer to Bank Negara’s forecast based on the performance so far this year,” Mustapa (picture) told reporters after launching the ministry’s 2012 report today.
According to Mustapa, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) and Matrade had initially predicted that the country’s trade would grow by four to five per cent this year, a higher figure than the central bank’s forecast of 3.4 per cent.
In the first quarter this year, the country recorded a total trade increase of 1.5 per cent at RM322.38 billion, with the growth of Malaysia’s imports outstripping its exports.
Mustafa attributed the lower export growth to two factors: the current state of the global economy, in particular US and Europe’s economies, and the softening of commodity prices.
He said that commodity prices are beyond the control of Malaysia, adding the government hopes that the prices will go up later this year.
Last year, Malaysia’s total trade stood at RM1.3 trillion after it went up by three per cent from the previous year’s trade of RM1.27 trillion.
Malaysia’s main trade partners in 2012 are ASEAN, China, Japan, the European Union (EU) and US.
