KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 24 ― The annual Leading Index (LI) rose 0.3 per cent to attain 109.5 points in October 2021 after registering 0.6 per cent in September 2021.
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said real imports of semiconductors remained the major contributor to the increase in the LI with positive demand for electronic integrated circuits.
In the meantime, the LI contracted by 0.9 per cent in the reference month against the previous month.
“Real money supply, M1, followed by real imports of other basic precious and other non-ferrous metals and number of housing units approved attributed primarily to the decline of the LI with each component recorded a negative 0.3 per cent,” he said in a statement, today.
The LI is a predictive tool used to anticipate economic upturns and downturns in an average of four to six months ahead.
Mohd Uzir said the performance of the LI in October 2021 remained positive with the smoothed LI continued above the long-term trend and moving upwards.
“Based on the scenario, a more promising outlook is anticipated in the near term if gradual normalcy of economic activities persists.
“In addition, the progressive lift of the restrictions in mitigating the economic impact, together with the resumption of inter-state travel brought positive vibes to the economy in regaining its growth momentum,” he said.
He said throughout October 2021, the economy continued to improve as more states moved into the next phases of the National Recovery Plan (NRP).
“Correspondingly, the current economic performance through the Coincident Index (CI) showed a better momentum to further increase to 2.1 per cent in October 2021 (September 2021: 0.3 per cent) to reach 113.3 points as opposed to 111.0 points in October 2020,” he said.
Furthermore, the CI continued to record a positive month-on-month growth of 0.8 per cent in the reference month.
“This growth was significantly attributed by the increase in volume index of retail trade (0.4 per cent) and total employment in the manufacturing sector (0.3 per cent),” he said. ― Bernama
