Malaysian trade data for the month of July is set to release tomorrow. According to a DBS Bank research report, headline export growth is likely to have sunken deeper into the red.
“A forecast of -6.3 percent YoY has been penciled into our forecast, which is a step down from -3.1 percent previously”, said DBS Bank.
Global demand for electronics has continued to be subdued as the doldrum continues for the industry. Trade war between the U.S. and China has also taken a turn for the worse. This would possibly bring about risk aversion behaviour from traders, thereby being a drag on export outlook.
Import growth is expected to have dropped even deeper at a pace of 10.2 percent. However, this is partially because of high base effect in the same period last year.
“With that, overall trade balance is expected to report a surplus of MYR 10.9bn, up from MYR 10.3bn previously”, added DBS Bank.
