Chief statistician Uzir Mahidin said socioeconomic activities had continued to pick up with the nation entering its final phase of the national recovery plan.
“Nevertheless, global challenges such as climate-related disasters, ongoing geopolitical tensions, and supply chain disruptions are foreseen to impact Malaysia’s inflation,” he said in a statement today.
Uzir said the country’s economy was headed towards recovery despite the uncertainties, as indicated by the Leading Index which has consistently exceeded 100 points by registering 110.1 points in January 2022.
“Malaysia’s (reopening of international borders) will bring a positive impact on tourism-related activities as well as the labour market to overcome issues of labour shortages.
“While Malaysia remains optimistic for economic recovery, we should be cautious of the ongoing global uncertainties following the geopolitical instability and lockdown in cities across China,” he said.
Uzir said total trade continued to be resilient in January and recorded a double-digit increase of 24.8% to RM203 billion from RM162.6 billion a year earlier.
“Exports jumped 23.5% to RM110.7 billion, (which was) higher than the imports value which increased 26.4% to RM92.3 billion, leading to a trade surplus of RM18.4 billion, (an increase of) 10.9% from the previous year,” he said.
In the same month, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 2.3% compared with the same month of the previous year, mainly due to the low base effect as well as higher transport, and food and non-alcoholic beverage costs, the statement said.
“The rise also exceeded Malaysia’s average inflation rate of 1.9% recorded from 2011 to January 2022.”
On unemployment, the department said compared with January last year when the labour market was faced with challenges, the situation improved this January with an increase in the labour force by 346,600 people (2.2%) to 16.37 million.
“The number of unemployed persons also declined further by 1.1% to 680,400 persons, registering 4.2% in the unemployment rate,” it added.