KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia saw its leading index (LI) grew 3.8 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to 114.2 points in May 2024 from 110.0 points in the same period last year, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM). 'The growth reflected a resilient economy underpinned by increasing tourism activities and promising external demand,' chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said in a statement today. LI is a tool utilised for predicting economic trends for an average of four to six months ahead. Mohd Uzir said Malaysia's LI has maintained its positive growth for the six consecutive months, primarily supported by a sturdy gain in the Bursa Malaysia Industrial Index (up 31.8 per cent), followed by real imports of other basic precious and other non-ferrous metals (up 20.6 per cent). On a month-on-month (m-o-m) basis, he said the LI edged up 0.8 per cent, mainly contributed by the number of new companies registered in May 2024 (up 0.5 per cent). On the coincident index (CI) which reflects th e current state of the economy, DoSM said the index increased 2.2 per cent y-o-y to 126.1 points in May 2024, mainly driven by the robust performance in the real contributions of the Employees Provident Fund (up 8.7 per cent). It said on a monthly basis, the CI also registered an increase of 0.6 per cent, bolstered by all components, except the capacity utilisation in manufacturing which shrank 0.2 per cent from the previous month. Source: BERNAMA News Agency