Malaysia IPI rose less than expected

This is the news from The Edge website:

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Malaysia’s industrial production index (IPI) increased 1% in January 2011 from a year ago. It increased 0.4% from December 2010.

The Statistics Department said on Thursday, March 10, the December IPI was revised 4.5% on-year.

“The increase in January 2011 was due to the increases in two indices: manufacturing (4.5%) and electricity (0.3%). However, the index of mining posted a decrease of 6.7%,” it said....

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Comment:
1. This is lower than the consensus expectation of 1.2% growth. It seems like the strong GDP growth in GDP in 2010 unlikely to repeat in 2011. Our PM has also indicated lower target of between 5% to 6% GDP growth this year.
2. With the lower than expected growth in IPI, Bank Negara likely to maintain interest rate in the evening today. The policy should continue to bias towards maintaining growth, although the intention to control inflation has strengthen. Thailand has just increased its interest rate recently.