KUALA LUMPUR (March 6): AmBank Group Research said Malaysia’s trade started 2018 on a high note with exports accelerating in January, printing a double-digit growth of 17.9% year-on-year (y/y), from a sluggish 4.7% y/y in December.

In a note today, AmBank group chief economist and head of research Dr Anthony Dass said he also noticed import growth moving in tandem with exports, climbing 11.6% y/y from 7.9% y/y previously.

“Hence, the trade surplus in January rose a staggering 10.4% y/y to RM9.7 billion,” he said.

Dass thus reiterated his exports projection to grow around 8.5% to 9.5% for 2018, partly affected by the base effect while he expects the overall gross domestic product to expand by 5.5%.

“Underpinned by stronger global growth, which we forecast at 3.6%, and added with 4.0% global export volume, these should continue to support our exports positively.

“Also with a stronger ringgit outlook, we expect imports to remain healthy,” he said.