Malaysia's Industrial Production Index (IPI) grew by 2.8% year-on-year in March to 127.8, supported by positive growth in the manufacturing and electricity indices, the Statistics Department said.

    In a statement Thursday, it said, the manufacturing index rose 4.4% and the electricity index increased 7.7%. However, the mining index recorded a decrease of 2.5%, Malaysia's News Agency (Bernama) reported.

    Meanwhile, the department said the IPI in February remained unchanged at 3.9% year-on-year. "In seasonally adjusted terms, the IPI in March declined by 0.4% month-on-month following a decrease in the mining index (2.2%) and electricity index (1.0%)," it said. 

    The manufacturing sector output grew 4.4% in March after an increase of 4.5% registered in February. The major sub-sectors which recorded an expansion in March were electrical and electronics products (5.5%), petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic products (3.3%) and food, beverages and tobacco (6.7%). 

    It said the mining sector output fell 2.5% for the month under review compared with the same month in 2015 due to a decline in the crude oil and natural gas indices.

    The electricity sector output, on the other hand, posted strong growth of 7.7% year-on-year in March. For the first quarter this year, Malaysia's IPI expanded by 3.3% over the same period of 2015, due to an increase in the manufacturing and electricity indices of 4.3% and 8.5% respectively.