Malaysia's solid Q1 GDP heralds more policy tightening

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's economic growth picked up pace in the first quarter and was likely to accelerate further this year amid sustained demand and the reopening of international borders, the central bank said on Friday.

Gross domestic product rose 5% in the January-March period, faster than the 4% expansion forecast by a Reuters poll and up from 3.6% growth in the previous quarter.