Malaysia’s inflation rate has decreased from 2.8 percent in May to 2.4 percent in June 2023.
The figure, according to Malaysian Finance Minister Anwar Ibrahim, in his statement received in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, is low compared to some developed and regional countries such as England (7 percent), the Philippines (5.4 percent), Singapore (4.5 percent), Indonesia (3.5 percent) and the United States (3 percent).
While the number of unemployment managed to record the lowest figure post-pandemic COVID-19 which is 3.4 percent in June 2023 compared to 3.5 percent in May 2023, said Anwar who is also the Prime Minister of Malaysia.
“The government is confident in the projection of economic growth of 4.0 percent to 5.0 percent for 2023,” he said.
For the second half of 2023, external demand is expected to continue to be affected by global uncertainty, namely the tension in the political situation, the supply chain disruption of the ongoing tight monetary policy to moderate global inflation, as well as the growth prospects of the main economies, most of which are Malaysia’s trading partners.
The domestic economic landscape remains intact based on available statistics. To encourage domestic growth, the Malaysian Government will maintain a responsive fiscal policy and continue to strive to accelerate the achievement of approved investments, as well as accelerate the implementation of Government projects, said Anwar.
Domestic demand that remains encouraging in the II quarter (Q2) of 2023 has supported the Malaysian economy, although the country is also affected by the “cold weather” of the global market.
Malaysia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Q2 2023 grew by 2.9 percent and cut in half the economic growth of the first half of 2023 to 4.2 percent.
While domestic demand remained strong in Q2 2023 with an increase of 4.5 percent, while total foreign trade contracted 11.3 percent to RM643.4 billion (around Rp2,121.62 trillion) in Q2 2023.
Public and private production drives economic growth, with both sectors increasing by 4.6 percent and 4.5 percent respectively. From the supply side, Malaysia’s economic development in Q2 2023 is supported by an increase in the construction, service and manufacturing sectors.
The development sector recorded the highest growth rate of 6.2 percent followed by the service sector (4.7 percent), and the manufacturing sector (0.1 percent).
Source : Antara News
