Sunway University’s Business School Economics Professor Dr Yeah Kim Leng said Malaysia’s second quarter GDP performance was an upside surprise as the economy was projected to expand a bit slower after the first quarter’s consensus-beating 5.6% growth.
“It is reflective of the continuing strengthening of global demand, and more importantly, the strong 7.1% rise in private consumption.
“The above trend consumption growth suggests the lingering effects of the Goods and Services Tax, as well as the weak ringgit, have further receded,” he told Bernama.
He said if Malaysia could record over 5% growth for the full-year GDP, the nation would become one of the top performing economies in Asean.
Bank Negara Malaysia, in an announcement yesterday, said Malaysia’s economy recorded a robust expansion of 5.8% in the second quarter, higher than 4% in the same quarter of last year and 5.6% in the first quarter of this year.
The central bank said the expansion was boosted by solid growth in gross export, services and manufacturing sectors, as well as private investment.
It also said that a revised GDP growth target for this year would be announced in the upcoming budget and is expected to be higher than the initial 4.3-4.8% projection.