KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 1 — Malaysia’s manufacturing output has encountered its first slowdown in four months, in a sign that the sector’s recovery could be losing its momentum.

According to IHS Markit’s Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), Malaysia posted a score of 49.0 in September, down from the 49.3 the country had managed the preceding month.

A PMI score under 50 denotes contraction while a score above 50 signals expansion.

IHS Markit chief business economist Chris Williamson explained that the loss of momentum was always a possibility and noted that Malaysia’s manufacturing performance was still in line with a full-year expansion.

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However, he warned that this sustained recovery was contingent on the country not encountering any further disruptions due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Barring any further marked increases in infection rates, Covid-19 related restrictions are due to ease further in the coming months, according to IHS Markit’s Covid-19 Containment Index, which should further facilitate the manufacturing recovery,” Williamson said.

“However, the future path of the virus remains uncertain and poses the biggest risk to the outlook.”

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For May, Malaysia posted a strong performance of 51.0 in the PMI, suggesting that the country was in for a V-shaped recovery.

After what appeared to be a successful containment of Covid-19, Malaysia has suddenly witnessed a steadily increasing rate of infection within the country, starting with a spike of 182 cases on September 11.

While it took from August 8 until September 16 for Malaysia to go from 9,000 to 10,000 cases, the country added the next thousand cases in just two weeks.

Health director-general Tan Sr Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah has said since that Covid-19 could no longer be considered to be restricted to Sabah as the trend of infections showed that it was already within the Malaysian community.

During the initial wave of Covid-19 infections in March, the government imposed a movement control order that brought the country’s economy to an almost complete standstill.