Malaysia Q3 GDP Growth Slows As Expected
15 Novembre 2019 - 3:10AM
RTTF2
Malaysia's economic growth slowed in the third quarter on weak
investment and exports, data from the Department of Statistics
showed Friday.
Gross domestic product climbed 4.4 percent on a yearly basis, as
expected, following second quarter's 4.9 percent expansion. A
similar slower growth was last reported in the third quarter of
2018.
On a quarterly basis, the economy expanded 0.9 percent, slower
than the 1 percent growth seen in the second quarter.
Nonetheless, the central bank said growth is expected to be
within projections in 2019 and the pace sustained going into 2020.
The bank forecast 4.3-4.8 percent growth this year.
Alex Holmes, an economist at Capital Economics, said growth is
likely to weaken further in the coming quarters.
On the plus side, recent monetary policy loosening should
provide a boost to the economy. Tighter fiscal policy is a key
headwind as the government aims to bring down the budget deficit,
the economist noted.
Last week, the central bank unexpectedly reduced the statutory
reserve requirement ratio by 50 basis points to 3.00 percent. In
May, the bank had lowered its benchmark interest rate by a quarter
point citing risks to economic outlook.
The production-side breakdown of GDP showed that services and
manufacturing sectors remained as the anchor to the economy. The
service sector logged 5.9 percent growth and manufacturing advanced
3.6 percent. Agriculture output was up 3.7 percent. Meanwhile,
construction shrank 1.5 percent and mining and quarrying by 4.3
percent.
On the expenditure-side, household consumption grew 7 percent
impelled by food and non-alcoholic beverages spending. At the same
time, government spending climbed 1 percent.
Meanwhile, gross fixed capital formation remained negative for
the third consecutive quarters. Investment was down 3.7
percent.
Exports were down 1.4 percent and imports decreased 3.3 percent
in the third quarter.
Further, data showed that the current account logged a surplus
of MYR 11.5 billion compared to a MYR 14.3 billion surplus in the
previous quarter.
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