Current Account Surplus Widened In 4Q16

Economic Research	17 February 2017
Malaysia
Economic Update
Current Account Surplus Widened In 4Q16 The current account surplus in the balance of payments widened to MYR12.2bn in 4Q16, due to a larger merchandise trade surplus. Nevertheless, the current account narrowed for the full year in 2016. Overall, the current account surplus is expected to widen further to MYR33.7bn or 2.7% of GDP in 2017, from a surplus of MYR25.1bn or 2% of GDP in 2016 on account of: 1.   Larger merchandise trade surplus, on higher commodity prices; 2.   Improvement in global growth outlook. The widening of the current account surplus in 4Q16 was attributed to a larger surplus of the merchandise trade account, while the deficits in the income and current transfers account narrowed during the quarter. The financial account registered a larger net outflow in 4Q16 from the previous quarter, mainly due to a larger outflow of portfolio investments. Economist:  Vincent Loo Yeong Hong  | +603 9280 2172 Economist:  Aris Nazman Maslan  | +603 9280 2184