Malaysia’s current account balance records surplus of 680 mln USD in Q2

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) — Malaysia’s current account balance (CAB) recorded a surplus of 3 billion ringgit (680 million U.S. dollars) in the second quarter of 2024, driven by goods and improving services accounts, official data showed Friday.
The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said in a statement that the surplus made up 19.2 billion ringgit in the first half of 2024.
According to the statement, Malaysia’s continuous surplus in the CAB was largely driven by net exports of goods. Its goods account recorded a net export of 24.6 billion ringgit in the second quarter.
Exports of goods increased by 2.2 percent quarter-on-quarter to record 278.1 billion ringgit, with the main exports being electrical and electronics, petroleum products and palm oil and palm oil-based products.
These goods were in high demand, particularly from major markets like Singapore, China and the United States.
Meanwhile, the services account signaled a favorable performance this quarter with a lower deficit of 4.9 billion ringgit.
This improvement was fueled by a higher surplus in travel with increased foreign tourist spending in Malaysia, coupled with lower expenditures by Malaysians abroad. (1 ringgit equals 0.23 U.S. dollars) ■