KUALA LUMPUR, June 9 — Malaysia’s Gross Domestic Products (GDP) will slow to 4.2 per cent this year and slide further to 4.0 per cent next year, Munich-based financial services firm Allianz SE predicts.
Despite the projected slowdown, its chief economist Dr Michael Heise said today that Malaysia’s economy is likely to weather external forces that have shaken other emerging markets in the Southeast Asian region.
“It's a little slowdown, but the impressive part is that the Malaysian economy went so well over the years of 2014 and 2015 and despite the number of shocks in the Malaysian economy, it actually outperformed the Asean country group in these two years,” he told a news conference here.
Malaysia marked GDP growths of 6.0 per cent and 5.0 per cent for the years 2014 and 2015 respectively.
Heise commended Malaysia for coping well with the external factors like the global crude oil price plunge and China’s slow economy that have affected other markets.
"Malaysia over the years has in my view increased its resilience.
"The fairly sizable current account surplus, debt situation has improved, the diversification of the economy and the impact of oil price movements has declined somewhat.
"I think this is a positive long-term change. And we must commend the policy makers for fending off these shocks quite positively," he said.
From a regional perspective, Allianz SE's Group Economic Research estimates the growth rate in emerging Asia to also dip to 5.8 per cent this year, and a forecasted 5.5 per cent for 2017 as opposed to 6.0 per cent in 2015.
Malaysia’s economy grew to 4.2 per cent in the first quarter of this year from 5.6 per cent last year, according to Bank Negara Malaysia’s figures.
