Malaysia's economy will enjoy stable growth this year: Experts
Hanoi (VNA) – Malaysia will not face an economic recession this year as the country recorded an impressive 5.6% gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the first quarter of 2023, according to the country's central bank governor Tan Sri Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus.
Mohd Uzir Mahidin, director of the Department of Statistics
Malaysia, attributed the positive economic growth in the first quarter of this
year to an improvement in household spending, direct investment, the labour
market, and tourism. Specifically, the service industry grew by 7.3% in the period
while the manufacturing, construction and agricultural sectors rose by 3.2%, 7.4% and 0.9%, respectively.
Malaysia recorded 12 billion RM (2.6 billion USD) in foreign direct investment (FDI) at the end
of the first quarter. This investment was mainly in the financial, mining, and
manufacturing sectors.
Inflation is forecast to remain high at 2.8-3.8% this year. It
stood at 3.9% in the first quarter of this year, showing that even when costs
have been reduced, vibrant economic activity still creates pressure that spurs
consumer demand and causes inflation to soar.
Despite the challenges that the economy is facing, Shamisah
affirmed that the Malaysian economy is on track to achieve GDP growth of 4-5%
thanks positive signal of domestic demand, adding that the risk of high
inflation mainly comes from domestic factors such as tourism activities and the
implementation of large infrastructure construction projects.
Malaysia’s Finance Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim agreed, saying that to this end, the government will prioritise solving the economic challenges that Malaysians have to deal with, especially combating wastefulness and corruption./.