[2020] Of something to smile about

The Coincident Index (CI), that measures the current economic activity, rose by 0.9% in April 2009 registered at 113.7 points. The increase of the index were contributed by real gross imports (0.7%), real sales in manufacturing sector (0.4%), Index of Industrial Production (0.2%) and real contributions in EPF (0.2%). The six-month smoothed growth rate of CI in April 2009 showed an improvement to -7.1% from -9.7% in March 2009.

The Leading Index (LI) which monitor the economic performance in advance also increased in April 2009. The index grew by 2.0% to 162.5 points from 159.4 points recorded in the previous month. Main components that have contributed to the increase of index were real total trade of eight major trading partners (0.6%), real money supply, M1 (0.5%) and Bursa Malaysia industrial index (0.3%). The six-month smoothed growth rate of LI improved 4.3% in April 2009 compared to 0.6% in the previous month. [Malaysia Economic Indicators – Leading, Coincident And Lagging Indices April 2009. Department of Statistics. Accessed June 26 2009]