Malaysia to sustain growth

Chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said many countries recorded a better performance in 1Q, indicating that economic improvement is underway in spite of multiple ongoing global crises causing disruptions in the supply chain, inflationary pressure and pushing for tightening of monetary policies.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is optimistic that the economic recovery will continue to be resilient in the third quarter (3Q) of 2022, notwithstanding external risks and downward pressure, after favourable performance was seen in 1Q, according to the Statistics Department.

Chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said many countries recorded a better performance in 1Q, indicating that economic improvement is underway in spite of multiple ongoing global crises causing disruptions in the supply chain, inflationary pressure and pushing for tightening of monetary policies.

For instance, he said, the European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States recorded expansion of gross domestic product (GDP) and a similar trend was observed in Asian countries like China, South Korea, the Philippines and Thailand.

“As for Malaysia, the GDP grew better-than-expected by 5% in 1Q after registering a 3.6% growth in the previous quarter,” he said in a statement as reported by Bernama.

Citing the Malaysian Economic Statistics Review Volume 5/2022 released by the department yesterday, Mohd Uzir said several key countries’ economic indicators registered a positive trajectory in 1Q.

“With regard to the external sector, the current account balance remained surplus at RM3bil, mainly supported by the net exports of goods account.

“Investment performance also improved, with foreign direct investment recording a higher net inflow of RM24.4bil, while direct investment abroad posted a lower net outflow of RM3.6bil,” he said.

He added that trade continued with its robust performance whereby total trade posted a double-digit growth of 23.6% amounting to RM624.9bil in 1Q.

In terms of performance in March 2022, Mohd Uzir said the industrial production index posted a growth of 5.1% against March 2021, backed by the manufacturing index which rose 6.9% year-on-year (y-o-y) driven by exports and domestic-oriented output.

He said the consumer price index for March 2022 rose by 2.2% y-o-y, staying above Malaysia’s average inflation rate of 1.9% from 2011 to March 2022.

“The producer price index for local production also posted a double-digit growth of 11.6% compared to 9.7% in February 2022,” he said.

He added that the leading index grew 0.4% month-on-month to 111.3 points, indicating improved and favourable performance in Malaysia’s economy.

Mohd Uzir said the department’s recent Business Tendency Statistics also highlighted that business sentiment remained positive for 2Q, while in the forthcoming six months, the business sentiment outlook is also optimistic.