KUALA LUMPUR, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia's Industrial Production Index (IPI) rose 4 percent year-on-year in May, driven by growth across the board, official data showed Friday.
Malaysian Statistics Department said in a statement that index for electricity grew 5.7 percent in the month, while index for manufacturing and mining expanded by 4.2 percent and 3 percent, respectively.
The major sub-sectors contributing to the increase of manufacturing sector in May were transport equipment and other manufactures products which increased by 6.9 percent; electrical and electronics products that went up 3.7 percent; petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic products that accelerated 3.2 percent.
The output of mining sector posted the highest growth since September 2017, driven by natural gas index that rose 7.6 percent.
From January to May, the IPI grew 3.2 percent, as electricity and manufacturing sectors grew 5.8 percent and 4.1 percent, respectively. The mining sector, however, declined by 0.1 percent.
As the IPI growth in May was higher than economist expectation of 3.5 percent, MIDF Research maintained its forecast IPI growth of 2.9 percent for 2019.
"Looking ahead, we opine IPI performance to improve in the second half underpin by lower Overnight Policy Rate effects, low inflationary pressure, stable domestic demand, positive progression in construction sector and gradual pick-up in commodity prices," the research house said on Friday.