KUALA LUMPUR (June 1): Malaysia’s trade surplus is likely to narrow in April to RM9.2 billion, after ballooning to RM14.7 billion in March, as disruptions from Lunar New Year festivities dissipated, according to Moody’s Analytics.

“The uptick in March was mainly driven by manufactured goods, in particular the electrical and electronics category,” Moody’s Analytics said in its  latest “Asia Pacific Economic Preview (4-8 June 2018)” report today.

“The sustained upswing in the global tech cycle powered Malaysia's economy in 2017 to its best performance in years,” the report added.

Going forward, Moody’s Analytics said: “the ongoing buoyancy in global technology demand should lift Malaysia's external sector, which is heavily exposed to the technology cycle again this year, although not to the same lofty heights.”

Malaysia is scheduled to release the foreign trade performance for April next Tuesday (June 5).

A trade surplus is an economic measure of a positive balance of trade, where a country’s exports exceed imports.

Malaysia has been enjoying a consecutive trade surplus for 20 years since 1998. 

This year, economists are expecting Malaysia to clock in a higher trade surplus of between RM105 billion and RM106 billion, from RM97.25 billion in 2017, the latter of which was the largest surplus registered since 2012.