Malaysia's Feb industrial output up

KUALA LUMPUR • Malaysia's industrial production in February rose 4.7 per cent from a year earlier, rebounding after two months in which the pace of expansion slowed, government data showed yesterday.

Factory output was up from the 3.5 per cent annual increase in January. February's expansion was supported by gains in the manufacturing, electricity and mining sectors, data from the Statistics Department showed.

Manufacturing output rose 6.5 per cent from a year earlier, helped by strong growth in the food and electronic products sub-sectors, the data showed.

Malaysia's export growth was at a near-seven-year high in February, at 26.5 per cent above a year earlier, following a jump in shipments of manufactured goods and commodities and a low base for comparison, thanks to the timing of the Chinese New Year holiday.

REUTERS

IMF more upbeat on 2017 economy

BERLIN • The International Monetary Fund sees a more favourable outlook for the global economy this year and next year than last year, but it has concerns beyond the near term, IMF managing director Christine Lagarde said on Monday.

"Our forecast for 2017 and 2018 is certainly more favourable than what we have seen in 2016, and probably a bit more so than we had forecast previously," she said before the IMF releases its world economic outlook later this month.

"So there is a positive short-term outlook on the horizon, which is unfortunately tainted by the risks that are still there, and that lead us to be concerned about the risk of complacency," Ms Lagarde added, after meeting the chiefs of other leading global economic organisations and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin.

REUTERS