Latest economic figures showed that Malaysia's economic growth is likely to ease in December this year to February 2019, Malaysia's Statistics Department said Wednesday.

The leading index, which provides a signal where the economy is heading for an average of four to six months ahead, fell 0.9 percent year-on-year in August.

However, on month-on-month basis, the leading index rose 0.3 percent for the month, after increasing by 0.1 percent in July. The growth was supported by the increases in number of housing units approved, real money supply and real imports of semi-conductors.

Meanwhile, the coincident index, which measures the overall current economic performance, declined 0.3 percent month-on-month in August, dragged mainly by the capacity utilization in manufacturing sector. On year-on-year basis, the index grew 3.6 percent.

The level of diffusion index for leading index remained at 42.9 percent for three consecutive months, while the diffusion index for coincident index performed better with 83.3 percent in August.