Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised Malaysia’s economic growth forecast for the year from 5.1% to 5.4% in its latest World Economic Outlook report.
The IMF also said that global growth is forecast to slow down from 6.0 % in 2021 to 3.2% in 2022 and 2.7% in 2023. This is the weakest growth profile since 2001, except for the global financial crisis and the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, it said.
It further noted that global economic activity is experiencing a “broad-based and sharper than expected slowdown”, with inflation higher than seen in several decades.
The cost of living crisis, tightening financial conditions in most regions, Russia-Ukraine crisis, and the lingering pandemic all weigh heavily on the outlook, it explained.
The report also said that projected growth in the ASEAN-5 countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand) next year has been revised downwards to reflect mainly less favourable external conditions such as slower growth in major trading partners such as China, the Euro zone and the US.
Among the other reasons for its revision are the decline in household purchasing power from higher food and energy prices and, in most cases, more rapid monetary policy tightening to bring inflation back to target.
The IMF’s latest forecast for Malaysia is in the lower-end of Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) projected GDP growth range of 5.3% to 6.3% for 2022, which it issued in August./.
The IMF also said that global growth is forecast to slow down from 6.0 % in 2021 to 3.2% in 2022 and 2.7% in 2023. This is the weakest growth profile since 2001, except for the global financial crisis and the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, it said.
It further noted that global economic activity is experiencing a “broad-based and sharper than expected slowdown”, with inflation higher than seen in several decades.
The cost of living crisis, tightening financial conditions in most regions, Russia-Ukraine crisis, and the lingering pandemic all weigh heavily on the outlook, it explained.
The report also said that projected growth in the ASEAN-5 countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand) next year has been revised downwards to reflect mainly less favourable external conditions such as slower growth in major trading partners such as China, the Euro zone and the US.
Among the other reasons for its revision are the decline in household purchasing power from higher food and energy prices and, in most cases, more rapid monetary policy tightening to bring inflation back to target.
The IMF’s latest forecast for Malaysia is in the lower-end of Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) projected GDP growth range of 5.3% to 6.3% for 2022, which it issued in August./.
VNA
