Malaysia's Leading Index (LI) maintained a positive trend in September this year, achieving an annual growth of 1.8% to reach 111.5 points, compared to 109.5 points in September 2023, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM).

Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr. Mohd Uzir Mahidin highlighted that this marks 10 consecutive months of positive growth since December 2023, reflecting sustained economic expansion in the country.

“The Bursa Malaysia Industrial Index was the main contributor to this increase, rising by 30.4%,” he said in a statement released on Monday.

However, he observed that the monthly performance of the LI saw a decline of 2.6%, driven by decreases in most components. The only exceptions were the real money supply, M1, and the Bursa Malaysia Industrial Index, both of which contributed marginal growth of 0.2% each, The Star reports.

“Looking at the smoothed long-term trend in September 2024, the LI consistently exceeded 100.0 points, indicating that the Malaysian economy is expected to continue growing, backed by optimistic domestic economic performance,” he went on to add.

Nevertheless, Mohd Uzir emphasised that global challenges could present potential risks to the current growth trajectory. 

Furthermore, in relation to the nation’s economic performance, he noted that the Coincident Index (CI) recorded an annual increase of 1.3%, rising to 125.6 points compared to 124.0 points in the same period last year.

“This performance was driven by almost all components, except for the real salaries and wages in manufacturing, which decreased by 0.6%,” he said.

However, Mohd Uzir noted that the CI's monthly performance experienced a slight decline of 0.7%, attributed to reductions in four of its six components. The exceptions were the total employment in the manufacturing sector and real salaries and wages, which registered modest increases of 0.1% and 0.02%, respectively.