KUALA LUMPUR (Nikkei Markets) -- Malaysia's September exports rose 6.7% from a year earlier thanks to stronger shipments of electronics, while imports slipped, widening the trade surplus to the highest in a decade, official data Monday showed.

Exports in September totaled 83 billion ringgit billion ($19.92 billion), according to data released by the Department of Statistics. That compared with August's 0.3% year-on-year decline. On a month-on-month, seasonally adjusted basis, exports rose 1.1% in September.

Economists said the stronger surplus will help take some weight off the Malaysian ringgit that has come under pressure from the new government's fiscal slippage, and as risks to export growth prospects remain aplenty amid a simmering U.S.-China tariff row.

"Steady current account surplus is positive for the Malaysian ringgit but the macro policy mix, an overly loose fiscal policy, and stable central bank monetary policy until after 2019, has turned negative," said ING's Economist Prakash Sakpal.

Bank Negara Malaysia will announce this year's final monetary policy review on Thursday. The central bank has kept the benchmark overnight policy rate steady at 3.25% since January when it was raised by 0.25 percentage-point.

Trade surplus widened to 15.3 billion ringgit in September, highest since October 2008, up 85.9% on year.

Shipments of electrical and electronics goods, which account for more than one-third of Malaysia's total exports, increased 6.5% in September from a year earlier, while refined petroleum product shipments climbed 20.5%.

In terms of markets, exports to Malaysia's largest trading partner China declined 0.6% year-on-year in September. Exports to Singapore gained 8.7%.

"Looking ahead, export performance of the key products seem cloudy amid escalating U.S.-China trade tensions on top of import tariffs imposed by Indonesia and India in order to protect their currency woes," MIDF Amanah Investment Bank said.

Still, other export powerhouses in Asia have continued to record growth. Shipments from South Korea surged 22.7% year-on-year in October, while Vietnam's exports grew 2.3% in the same month from a year earlier.

Malaysia's imports, meanwhile, declined 2.7% to 67.8 billion ringgit in September, led by fall in intermediate and capital goods. On a month-on-month, seasonally adjusted basis, imports fell 14.7% in September.

The government set this year's fiscal deficit target at 3.7% of gross domestic product, widening sharply from the initial aim of 2.8%. However, it aims to narrow the budget shortfall to 3.4% of GDP next year, aided by some revenue-boosting measures.

--Jason Ng