Leading Index (LI) bounced back to register positive growth of 2.2 per cent to 111.2 points in May 2022 as compared to 108.8 points in the same month of the preceding year, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said.
It said that the expansion of the LI was primarily backed by the increment in Real Imports of Other Basic Precious & Other Non-ferrous Metals driven by the encouraging demand in platinum-based imports. Correspondingly, the LI grew to 0.4 per cent based on monthly comparison.
DOSM said that the growth was underpinned significantly by a good performance in the Number of Housing Units Approved (1.2%), Real Imports of Other Basic Precious & Other Non-ferrous Metals (0.2%), and the Number of New Companies Registered (0.1%).
Overall, DOSM said that LI showed a better performance in May 2022 with the long-term trend index continuously above 100.0 points, anticipating a positive economic outlook in the months to come.
Moving forward, efficient and effective inflation management by the government is crucial for sustainable economic growth. The performance of the Coincident Index (CI) which reflects the current state of the economy showed a better year-on-year growth by registering 6.4 per cent in May 2022 from 5.3 per cent recorded in April 2022. In the meantime, the monthly change of CI increased 0.8 per cent in the said month supported by the largest positive contribution from Volume Index of Retail Trade (0.7%).
