KUALA LUMPUR, July 25 — Malaysia’s leading index (LI) rebounded 2.2 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to 111.2 points in May 2022, up from a y-o-y contraction of 0.5 per cent in April 2022 (110.8 points), indicating a positive economic outlook in the months to come, says the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM).
The LI is a predictive tool used to anticipate economic upturns and downturns in an average of four to six months ahead.
“The LI improved in May 2022 with the long-term trend index remaining above 100.0 points, however, it must be noted that efficient and effective inflation management by the government is crucial for sustainable economic growth,” DoSM said in a statement today.
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the expansion of the LI was mainly due to the increment in real imports of other basic precious and other non-ferrous metals, driven by the encouraging demand for platinum-based imports.
On a month-on-month (m-o-m) basis, he said the LI grew 0.4 per cent in May 2022 versus a contraction of 0.4 per cent in April 2022, mainly supported by growth in the number of housing units approved (+1.2 per cent), real imports of other basic precious and other non-ferrous metals ( +0.2 per cent) and number of new companies registered (+0.1 per cent).
Meanwhile, the coincident index (CI) — which reflects the current state of the economy — grew 6.4 per cent y-o-y in May 2022 from 5.3 per cent y-o-y in April 2022.
On a monthly comparisan basis, it said the CI increased 0.8 per cent in May 2022, mainly contributed by the volume index of retail trade which grew 0.7 per cent m-o-m. — Bernama
