Malaysia recorded its first monthly trade deficit since October 1997 as exports contracted faster than imports.
The country's trade deficit in April was 3.5 billion ringgit ($822.1 million), Malaysia's Ministry of International Trade and Industry said on Thursday.
Exports in April fell 23.8% from the same period a year earlier, while imports fell 8.0%.
The decline in exports was due to a 23.4% drop in exports of manufactured goods, which constituted 85.5% of total exports.
Exports to China, one of Malaysia's largest trading partners, rebounded 4.2% in April, driven by higher exports of electrical and electronic products and petroleum products.
Exports to the U.S. declined 31.1% to MYR5.31 billion, dragged by lower exports for electrical and electronic products as well as optical and scientific equipment.
The ministry said Malaysia's total trade value amounted to RM133.34 billion in April 2020, a decrease of 16.4% from a year earlier, as the Covid-19 pandemic caused major disruptions to the global supply chain.
It said lower trade was recorded particularly with Singapore, Thailand, India, the U.S., Japan, Vietnam and Saudi Arabia.
The decline in imports was dragged by imports of intermediate goods, mainly lower imports of parts and accessories of capital goods, particularly electrical machinery, equipment and parts.
Imports from Asean decreased 33.6% to MYR11.02 billion.
Malaysia's exports during the first four months of 2020 dropped by 5.5% while imports slipped 1.2%. The trade surplus for the period was valued at MYR33.47 billion, falling 29.9% compared with the same period in 2019.
The Southeast Asia country started its restrictions on movement and travel on March 18 to curb the spread of Covid-19 and relaxed the lockdown from May 4.
Write to Chester Tay at chester.tay@wsj.com
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June 04, 2020 at 11:08AM
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