Calls for better financial preparedness

Lee told a briefing that SERC is holding on to its forecast GDP growth rate of 4.1% for 2023, on the back of an expected headline inflation rate of 2.8% to 3.5% this year.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth is estimated to have moderated to between 4% and 4.5% in the first quarter of 2023 (1Q23), from a 7% expansion recorded in the final three months of last year, says Socio-Economic Research Centre (SERC) executive director Lee Heng Guie.

SERC in its latest quarterly economic tracker (January-March 2023) said the slowdown in GDP growth for the quarter under review was attributed to a sharp pullback in export growth, which put a dampener on external trade.