Malaysia’s Q4 2015 balance of payments records surplus of RM11.4 billion

Malaysia's current account balance for the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2015 posted a higher surplus of RM11.4 billion, when compared with the RM5.06 billion in the preceding quarter, the Statistics Department said. The higher surplus was mainly reflected from the higher surplus in the goods account of RM30.9 billion and lower deficit in both the primary income account of RM8.2 billion and secondary income account of RM5.0 billion. Meanwhile, the services account posted a higher deficit of RM6.2 billion (Q3 2015: deficit RM5.9 billion), the department said in a statement on the "Quarterly Balance of Payment Performance, Fourth Quarter 2015" released today. In 2015, the current account balance posted RM34.0 billion (in 2014, the surplus was RM47.3 billion), resulting from a wider deficit in services and secondary income accounts as well as lower surplus in goods account. For the services account, exports recorded RM135.7 billion, while imports posted RM156.1 billion. In Q4 2015, the capital account recorded a lower deficit of RM15.0 million compared to RM30.1 million in the previous quarter due to lower payments on capital transfer outflow by RM9.0 million. In 2015, capital account posted a reversal to deficit RM1.2 billion, from a surplus of RM0.3 billion as recorded last year. The financial account recorded a net inflow of RM5.3 billion from a net outflow of RM31.2 billion in the previous quarter and this was mainly due to a reversal in portfolio investment component to net inflow of RM15.9 billion. The department said Direct Investment Abroad (DIA) posted a higher net outflow of RM6.8 billion, while Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Malaysia showed a higher net inflow of RM12.5 billion. Annually, this account posted a lower net outflow of RM53.3 billion from RM81.6 billion, mainly due to a turnaround to net inflow in direct investment and lower net outflow in portfolio investment. The international reserves of Bank Negara Malaysia as at end-December 2015 was RM409.1 billion, an increase of RM3.7 billion from a year ago. – Bernama, February 18, 2016.]]>