Malaysia recorded a trade surplus of 6.6 billion ringgit (1.89 billion U.S. dollars) this January, down 25 percent on a year-on-year basis, the Department of Statistics said Tuesday.

The lower trade surplus was due to a firmer growth in imports as against that of exports, the department said in a statement released here.

In January 2007, total exports earning stood at 47 billion ringgit (13.43 billion U.S. dollars), an increase of 8.9 percent compared with the same period last year.

As the largest export earner, electrical and electronic products generated receipts of 22 billion ringgit (6.29 billion U. S. dollars).

Total imports for January were valued at 40.4 billion ringgit ( 11.54 billion U.S. dollars), posting a growth of 17.6 percent on a year-on-year basis, said the department.

During the period, top five trading partners for Malaysia were the United States, Singapore, the European Union, China and Japan.

Source: Xinhua