KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 17 ― Malaysia’s current account balance rose a marginal 0.3 per cent to RM9.14 billion in the third quarter of 2023 (3Q 2023) against RM9.1 billion in the previous quarter, lifted by higher net exports of goods, said the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM).

The higher surplus accounted for 2.0 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP), slightly lower than 2.1 per cent of GDP in the second quarter (2Q 2023), it said.

Chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said financial account had a net inflow of RM14.9 billion against a net outflow of RM11.6 billion in the preceding quarter.

The January-September current account balance had a RM22.5 billion surplus, while financial account recorded a net inflow of RM1.0 billion, he said in a statement today.

Mohd Uzir said net exports of goods surged to RM32.7 billion in 3Q 2023 from RM29.5 billion in 2Q 2023, with exports rising by 2.2 per cent to RM260.4 billion.

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

Similarly, imports of goods rose 1.0 per cent quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) to RM227.7 billion, contributed by intermediate goods. Malaysia imported the most from China, Singapore and the US.

Foreign direct investments (FDIs) recorded a higher RM7.2 billion net inflow in 3Q 2023 versus RM3.1 billion in the preceding quarter.

"The largest recipient of FDIs were services, mainly in financial activities and mining and quarrying sectors. Hong Kong, China and the United Kingdom were the primary sources of FDI,” he said.

Mohd Uzir also noted that the net outflow of direct investment abroad (DIA) rose to RM13.4 billion versus RM8.0 billion in the previous quarter.

The major contributors of DIA were the services sector, particularly in financial activities, followed by mining and quarrying and agriculture sectors; the top three destinations were Indonesia, Angola and Vietnam.

"As at the end of 3Q 2023, cumulative FDIs and DIA were RM914.9 billion and RM659.6 billion, respectively,” he said.

Total financial assets amounted to RM2,399.5 billion versus total liabilities of RM2,296.3 billion. ― Bernama