KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 14 — Malaysia’s gross domestic product expanded 5.2 per cent in the third quarter year-on-year, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and the Department of Statistics Malaysia said today, as stronger exports, investments and sustained household spending continued to drive growth.
The July to September period saw the economy mostly rebound from the previous quarter, with growth registering above 5 per cent in each month.
BNM said it expects Malaysian economic growth to remain on the projected course of between 4.0 and 4.8 per cent based on the third quarter performance. The GDP grew 4.4 per cent in the second quarter.
“As it is now we seem to be on the way to get the upper range the forecast,” BNM governor Datuk Seri Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour said a media briefing here.
Household spending continued to be buoyed by employment and wage growth, a momentum the Bank said would likely stay throughout the rest of the year. Private consumption moderated slightly in the last three months compared to the second quarter, decreasing to 5 per cent from 5.3 per cent previously.
Meanwhile private and public investments remain vibrant, with pogress in infrastructure projects, realisation of approved investments and national master plans implementation to help keep growth upwards, Abdul Rasheed said.
Net exports also rebounded in the July-September, rising over 17 per cent as the country imported less than exports.
OPR likely to stay, inflation stable
Headline inflation stayed at 1.3 per cent between July to September but core inflation rose to 2 per cent compared to a year before. Higher core inflation added impetus to headline inflation, but was offset by declines in selected administrated prices, namely electricity and diesel, the Bank said.
Annual headline inflation growth is expected to stay at 1 per cent, according to BNM’s estimates. Abdul Rasheed said the overnight policy rate had been kept at 2.75 per cent to support growth as price movement remains moderate.
