Malaysia's economy grows 5.9% in 2Q

The Star

Malaysia's economy expanded at its fastest rate in 18 months in the second quarter helped by stronger household spending, exports and investment, with the central bank forecasting full-year growth to come in near the upper end of its forecast range.  Gross domestic product grew 5.9% in the April-to-June period, accelerating from 4.2% in the first quarter.  Read more at https://tinyurl.com/nhdxzadc  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

Transcript

00:00In the second quarter of 2024, the Malaysian economy advanced by 5.9 percent.

00:11This was supported by higher household spending and amid positive labor market conditions

00:19and larger policy support for the pickup in export goods and tourist arrivals, as well

00:25as a robust expansion in investment activities.

00:29On a seasonally adjusted quarter-on-quarter basis, GDP showed a stronger growth momentum

00:36of 2.9 percent, higher than 1.5 percent recorded in the first quarter of 2024.

00:43At this level of growth, 5.9 percent, this is actually the highest since the fourth quarter

00:49in 2022, where we recorded 7.4 percent growth.

00:54And that was due to the reopening effect.

00:57And we acknowledge that this current growth is driven by a number of positive factors,

01:01which I highlighted just now in my presentation.

01:04First is surge in investment.

01:06We see firm consumption.

01:08We see recovering exports, which could still continue into the near term.

01:12There was also some base effects, actually, because I think last year, second quarter,

01:18the growth was 2.8 percent.

01:20However, we are also mindful of the specific one-off factors and risks that could also

01:25affect growth in the second half, particularly first in terms of the lack impact of the drier

01:33El Nino weather, which peaked in first quarter this year on all palm fields, which could

01:40dampen production in the next three to six months.

01:43Second is the scheduled maintenance activities in the oil and gas subsector during the third

01:47quarter, which could lead to lower-than-expected production.

01:51And third, in terms of the external shocks in the form of worsening conflicts, supply

01:56disruptions, clutter protectionism, and more volatile financial markets.

02:02Therefore, we are of the view that growth this year is still firm, and we are comfortable

02:08to expect growth that is closer to the upper end of our forecast range, between 4 to 5

02:14percent.

02:15And this forecast is subject to the upside risk and also downside risk.

02:19If the upside risk does materialise, of course, it could be around 5 or even higher.

02:24But if the downside risk materialises, it will be within that range.

Category

Transcript

Recommended