KUALA LUMPUR, April 11 (Reuters) - Malaysia's industrial
production rose 3 percent in February from a year earlier,
supported by growth in the manufacturing and electricity
generation sectors, government data showed on Wednesday.
February's output growth was slightly below the 3.4 percent
annual rise forecast in a Reuters poll.
In January, annual growth was recorded as 3 percent but it
has since been revised to a 5.4 percent year-on-year rise, after
the base year used to calculate the index was changed from 2010
to 2015, the Statistics Department said in a statement.
The index measures factory output from the manufacturing,
electricity generation and mining sectors.
Manufacturing output grew 4.7 percent from a year earlier in
February, while the electricity index was up 2.8 percent,
according to data from the Statistics Department.
Mining output, however, declined 1.6 percent, the data
showed.
On a monthly basis, factory output fell 10. 3 percent.
Malaysia's exports had fallen for the first time in 18
months in February, hit by the effects of shorter working days
during the Lunar New Year break.
A private manufacturing purchasing managers' index showed
Malaysian factory activity contracted to a five-month low in
March, as production and new orders fell.
INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION INDEX (base 2015)
(in points; base year 2015=100)
Feb 2018 Jan 2018
102 113.8*
Pct change yr/yr 3.0 5.4*
mth/mth -10.3 1.5*
SECTOR BREAKDOWN (in pct, unless otherwise stated)
Feb 2018 Jan 2018
yr/yr yr/yr
(pct) (pct)
Manufacturing 4.7 6.9*
Electricity 2.8 4.3
Mining -1.6 1.5
*indicates revised figures
(Reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by Sunil Nair)