KUALA LUMPUR, Mar 28 (NNN-BERNAMA) – Malaysia’s producer price index (PPI), which measures the prices of goods at factory gate, slipped to a negative growth of 0.8 percent in Feb against 1.3 percent in Jan, official data showed, yesterday.
The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), said in a statement that, this is the first negative rate recorded since Jan, 2021, due to base effect and lower prices of primary commodities.
According to the DOSM, the downward trend was primarily due to the decrease in agriculture, forestry and fishing and mining sectors.
Agriculture, forestry and fishing index decreased by 26.1 percent, with fresh fruit bunches index plunged 40.5 percent in Feb.
At the same time, the mining index fell 6.5 percent, mainly due to a drop of extraction of crude petroleum index at 16.1 percent.
Meanwhile, the manufacturing index increased by three percent in Feb, moderating from 4.5 percent in the previous month, as a result of the increase of manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products index.
Whereas for utility sector, water supply, as well as, electricity and gas supply, indices edged up 3.7 percent and 1.0 percent, respectively.
On a monthly basis, the PPI for local production declined 0.2 percent in Feb, as compared to a negative growth of 0.8 percent in the previous month.– NNN-BERNAMA