Malaysia’s current account surplus higher at RM9.1bil in 2Q 2023 – DoSM

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s current account balance (CAB) rose to RM9.1 billion in the second quarter of 2023 (2Q 2023) against RM4.3 billion in the previous quarter, mainly lifted by net exports of goods, said the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM).

The higher surplus accounted for 2.1 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP), up from one per cent of GDP in 1Q 2023, it said.

DoSM said the goods account recorded a net export of RM29.5 billion in 2Q 2023, a decrease of 26.1 per cent quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q).

“The main exports were electrical and electronics (E&E), petroleum and chemicals products, especially to Singapore, China and the United States,” it said.

In contrast, it said imports of goods increased 1.7 per cent q-o-q to RM225.4 billion from RM221.6 billion, mainly contributed by capital and consumption goods with China, Singapore and Taiwan being the top sources of import.

On foreign direct investment (FDI), DoSM said it recorded a lower net inflow of RM3.1 billion in 2Q 2023 compared with RM12.0 billion in the preceding quarter.

“The largest recipient of FDI was the services sector, predominantly in professional, scientific and technical, as well as financial sub-sectors,” it said, adding the main FDI sources were from Singapore, Taiwan and Germany.

On the net outflow in direct investment abroad (DIA), DoSM said it expanded to RM8.0 billion in 2Q 2023 from RM1.1 billion in the previous quarter.

“The major sectors contributing to the DIA were services particularly in the financial, as well as information and telecommunications sub-sector, followed by agriculture and construction,” it said, adding the top three DIA destinations were Singapore, Indonesia and Norway.

In terms of the accumulated investment as at end-2Q 2023, it said FDI recorded RM900.0 billion while DIA stood at RM652.1 billion.

DoSM said Malaysia’s international investment position (IIP) registered a net asset of RM160.9 billion, while Malaysia’s international reserves stood at RM522.0 billion. – BK