Malaysia's Economy Grows Weaker Than Expected!

<p>&nbsp;Malaysia's economic growth fell short of expectations in the second quarter of this year, the slowest rate of expansion in nearly two years.</p><p><br /></p><p>Most recently, the Department of Statistics Malaysia reported gross domestic product (GDP) moderated to 2.9% year-on-year from the 5.6% growth recorded in the first quarter.</p><p><br /></p><p>It missed analysts' expectations of 3.3% growth, thus weakening Malaysia's growth prospects this year.</p><p><br /></p><p>On a seasonally adjusted basis, GDP rose 1.5% year-on-year from the 0.9% recorded in the first quarter of 2023.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>For the first half of 2023, the economy grew 4.2% compared to 6.8% in the same period of 2022.</p><p><br /></p><p>This weakness has been influenced by weaker global demand amid a global technology down cycle, low commodity production as well as high base effects from the second quarter of 2022.</p><p><br /></p><p>Private consumption decreased, while net trade contributed negatively to GDP with exports falling by 9.4% and imports contracting by 6.5%.</p><p><br /></p><p>Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) projects the economy to grow between 4% and 5% in 2023, supported by strong domestic demand.</p>