Malaysia's May industrial output grew at a considerably faster annual rate of 7.6 percent, driven by gains in manufacturing, mining and electricity indices, the statistics department said on Wednesday.

April's Industrial Production Index was 3.2 percent year-on- year.

Manufacturing output rose 6.5 percent in May on a year-on-year basis as it was contributed by growth in petroleum, chemical, rubber product, metal and non-metallic mineral materials production.

The mining sector registered an 11.5 percent increase for the month year-on-year due to higher crude oil and natural gas indices but it declined by 0.9 percent month-on-month.

Electricity output meanwhile was up by 6.6 percent year-on-year.

On a separate note, the department said manufacturing sales in May posted a 10 percent growth to a record 52.5 billion ringgit from last year.

On a month-on-month basis, the sales value increased by 0.2 percent.

Malaysia's central bank on July 5 kept its interest rate unchanged for the sixth consecutive monetary policy meeting on concerns over lingering eurozone crisis.

The bank said domestic consumption and steady investment will be the anchor of growth.