Chief statistician Uzir Mahidin said the IPI remained positive albeit at a slower rate in March compared to the 3.1% growth recorded in the preceding month.

He said the increase was spearheaded by the expansion in the manufacturing sector, which grew by 1.3%, up from 1.2% in February 2024.

“In the meantime, the mining and electricity sectors registered 4.9% (February 2024: 8.1%) and 7.8% (February 2024: 10.9%), respectively,” he said in a statement.

In comparison with the preceding month, Uzir said the IPI turned around to 7.5%, contrasting with the negative 6.3% recorded in the previous month.

The export-oriented industries rebounded to 0.5% in March 2024 from negative 0.2% in February 2024, primarily led by the manufacture of computer, electronics and optical products; as well as the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products.

In a month-on-month comparison, the export-oriented industries augmented by 11.0% as against the negative 5.8% in February 2024, Uzir noted.

Meanwhile, the domestic-oriented industries recorded a modest 3.1% growth compared to 4.1% in February 2024, attributed to the manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment, the manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products and the manufacture of food processing products.

“In comparison with the preceding month, the domestic-oriented industries rebounded to 1.9% from negative 7.2% recorded in the previous month,” he added.

For the first quarter of 2024 (1Q 2024), the IPI increased 3.3% y-o-y as compared to 0.8% recorded in 4Q 2023, supported by the acceleration registered in the mining sector by 5.9% and the electricity sector by 8.9%.

“Meanwhile, the manufacturing sector turned upward to 2.1% from the negative 0.2% posted in the previous quarter.

“In a quarter-on-quarter comparison, the IPI dropped by 1.0% influenced by the manufacturing sector at negative 1.8%,” Uzir said.