Malaysia’s economic growth in the second quarter was the slowest in nearly two years. This was due to falling exports and a worldwide slowdown, with the central bank warning yesterday that full-year growth will be at the lower end of its prior prediction.
Malaysia’s export-oriented economy is reliant on global growth, which is threatening to slow. The economy is also being weighed down by a weak ringgit currency and a recession in China, Malaysia’s key trading partner.
According to central bank data, growth in the second quarter was 2.9 percent year on year. The rate of expansion was the slowest since the third quarter of 2021, when the economy contracted by 4.2%, and was lower than the 5.6 percent growth rate in the first quarter of 2023.
It was also lower than the 3.3% growth predicted by economists.
Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) forecasted that the country’s full-year economic growth would be at the lower end of the 4% to 5% range it had previously predicted.
“Weaker external demand is expected to crimp near-term growth.” The economy faces downside risks from weaker-than-expected global growth and a deeper or longer-than-expected technology down cycle, according to BNM governor Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour at a news conference.
Malaysia may also witness lower-than-expected commodities production as a result of El Nino’s harsher impact and longer plant maintenance, he warned.
Info source – Borneo Bulletin