ANN/THE STRAITS TIMES – Malaysia’s economic growth hit the lowest in nearly two years in the second quarter. This was due to sliding exports and a global slowdown with the central bank yesterday warning that full-year growth will come in at the lower end of its previous forecast.
Malaysia’s export-oriented economy is dependent on global growth, which is facing mounting fears of recession. A weak ringgit currency and a slowdown in China, Malaysia’s main trading partner, are also weighing on the economy.
Second-quarter growth came in at 2.9 per cent from a year earlier, central bank data showed. The expansion was the slowest pace since the third quarter of 2021 when the economy contracted by 4.2 per cent, and was lower than the 5.6 per cent growth in the first quarter of 2023.
It was also worse than 3.3 per cent growth forecast by economists.
Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) said the country’s full-year economic expansion will come in at the lower end of the four per cent to five per cent range it had forecast earlier.
“The weak external demand is expected to weigh on near-term growth. The economy is facing downside risks stemming from weaker-than-expected global growth, and a deeper or longer-than-expected technology down cycle,” BNM governor Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour told a news conference.
Malaysia could also see lower-than-expected commodity production due to the stronger impact from El Nino and prolonged plant maintenance, he said.
