DESPITE the doom and gloom in recent months, the Malaysian economy managed to expand with a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 4.3% for the third quarter ended Sept 30 compared with the same quarter a year ago, better than the market’s median expectations of 4% while on a quarter-on-quarter basis, GDP grew by 1.5%.
Data released by Bank Negara showed that the mainstay of the economy is still domestic demand and in particular private consumption, which has steadily improved since last year following the implementation of the goods and services tax. However, consumer sentiment remains weak with the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research’s (Mier) consumer sentiment index falling again in the third quarter and well below the 100-point threshold. This indicates that consumers are still cautious on their spending.
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