Think tank says Malaysia's GDP growth could drop to below 4% next year

SERC Sdn Bhd executive director, Lee Heng Guie [2nd from left] pose for photograph after the press Conference on Quarterly Economy Tracker for the Second Quarter of 2018. With him are researcher [from left] Liew San Yee, Lee Soon Thye and Goh Kong Jun. - AZMAN GHANI / The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: The growth rate of Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP) could fall to below 4% in 2019 if the United States and China continue to hike tariffs on a wider range of imports from each other.

Socio-Economic Research Centre (SERC) executive director Lee Heng Guie cautioned that Malaysia’s economic performance could be “substantially affected” if the trade war worsens, as both the US and China are the country’s major export markets.