Minister: Drop in imports during CNY 'normal', will recover by June

Malaysian imports are expected to recover by June after a "normal" drop in February, International Trade and Industry Minister Darell Leiking said today.

Speaking in a joint interview held in Putrajaya, Leiking said the drop in imports for February – down 9.4 percent from the previous year – was largely due to the Chinese New Year celebrations.

"This was the early part of the year, when new orders come in, while some (importers) review their orders, and some not trading, as February was Chinese New Year," he said.

"A lot of importers were not ordering at the time, because they already made early orders, early stocks.

"It is a pattern that, as I was briefed by my officers, is quite normal. You'll see in the next few months, maybe by June, it would have increased again."

Chinese New Year holidays fell on Feb 5 and 6 this year, a Tuesday and a Wednesday.

Only certain imports were affected by the drop, Leiking pointed out, adding that Malaysians are resilient to such situations. 

"The beautiful thing about Malaysia is that when imports decline, Malaysians tend to look for locally produced (goods).

"I hope we are at a level that we can supplement the loss in imported goods," he said.

Meanwhile, on the weakening ringgit, the minister said this was a problem that affected other countries too, but was confident that Bank Negara had strategies to keep the situation under control.  - Mkini