KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 4): Malaysian exports increased 1.7% to RM88 billion in July 2019 from a year earlier, on higher sales of electrical and electronic goods, liquefied natural gas, refined petroleum products, natural rubber, and timber-based items, the Statistics Department said today.

Crude petroleum and palm oil-based products exports, however, decreased during the month, according to the department.

The nation's imports fell. "Imports registered a decrease of 5.9% y-o-y to RM73.7 billion. Total trade which was valued at RM161.7 billion decreased RM3.2 billion or 1.9% as compared to July 2018," the department's chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said in the statement.

According to the statement, the decrease in imports by end-use was mainly due to lower purchases of capital, intermediate and consumption goods.