KUALA LUMPUR, April 2 — Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) Deputy Governor Datuk Marzunisham Omar said today multinational firms have signalled their intention to keep all projects in Malaysia going, a key factor that is helping the South-east Asian nation withstand the impact from a worsening crisis in the Middle East.
The assertion, made at a forum before the country’s business circle, came as some expressed concerns that the war could hurt Malaysia’s export-driven economy.
Marzunisham said Malaysia is weathering the energy and supply shock from a position of strength, as he urged businesses to remain optimistic and focus on what makes the country strong.
“They have said they won’t pull out, especially those investing in data centres,” Marzunisham said, adding that data centres make up nearly a third of all approved investments in 2025.
“So that strength, E&E (export), rising semiconductor (demand), tech cycle and all that, it’s still supporting our economy. Then there is tourism. Yes there may be some headwinds but in all they could be coming from the region, for example.
“So yes highly challenging times but we must not lose focus on some of the strength that our economy has; that provides us the resilience to face these challenges,” he added.
BNM said yestersay that Malaysia’s growth will remain strong in 2026, despite global economic turbulence caused by the escalating conflict in the Middle East.
The central bank projected Malaysia’s gross domestic product for 2026 could be between 4-5 per cent as robust consumer spending, wage growth and continued investments would make the South-east Asian nation resilient to external shocks.
BNM governor Datuk Seri Abdul Rasheed Gharfour told a news conference here that Malaysia is weathering the headwinds from the war from “a position of strength”, although he still did not discount the possibility that the forecast could be revised.
The positive signal from the central bank was jarringly different from the tone underpinning from the federal government’s reading of the conflict.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim himself had said that his administration is already operating in a “crisis mode”.
Just this evening, former international trade minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz urged the government to prepare a structured stimulus plan that is ready to be activated if the global energy crisis continues to exert pressure on Malaysia’s economy and the people’s cost of living.
The government has already spent some RM4 billion to absorb the initial shock of rising global oil prices to maintain subsidies for petrol and diesel for qualified sectors.
BNM gave an optimistic inflation forecast for 2026 yesterday, predicting modest of between 1.5 and 2.5 per cent although it still cautioned that prices could still spiral up if the war prolongs to cause more disruption to energy and other supplies from the Gulf.
