SEMI president and CEO Ajit Manocha said equipment billings in August declined relative to July, signaling a pause in this year's extraordinary growth.
MALAYSIA'S external position is expected to remain resilient in 2018 due to the strong global economic and trade performance, underpinned by stronger export growth though the deficit in the services account is expected to widen.
Strong demand for electrical and electronic (E&E) products and commodities are expected to push gross exports higher by 3.4% to RM948.70bil in 2018 from RM917.5bil in 2017.
The country will also see steady growth in investment activity, which in turn will spur gross imports by 3.5% to RM851.70bil from RM822.90bil.
However, the deficit in the services account is forecast to widen to RM22.70bil from RM18.8bil.
As for the transport and other services accounts, they are projected to remain in deficit following the favourable growth prospects in trade- and investment-related activities.
The travel account is estimated to post a larger surplus of RM36.4bil, an increase from RM35.8bil due to higher tourist receipts.
Gross travel receipts are expected to increase to RM81.9bil from RM80.6bil due to marketing and promotional activities and increased connectivity.
Meanwhile, the deficit in the primary income account is expected to be at RM41bil, up slightly from RM40.1bil due to higher earnings accruing to foreign companies investing in Malaysia.
Net outflows in the secondary income consists mainly of remittances by foreign workers at RM17.7bil, a slight decline from RM17.9bil.
The current account balance is expected to register a surplus of RM32.9bil or 2.3% of GNI compared with RM32.3bil.
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