KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 13 ― Ambank Research has reiterated Malaysia’s 2019 full-year gross domestic product (GDP) to grow around 4.5 per cent.
In a note today, AmBank group chief economist and head of research Dr Anthony Dass said the average index of Industrial Production growth for the first two months of the fourth quarter of 2019 (4Q2019) at 1.2 per cent year-on-year (y/y) implies that the 4Q2019 GDP could be around 4.5 per cent.
He said in November, industrial production (IP) rose two per cent y/y surpassing market consensus of one per cent, supported by the turnaround in mining output, up 0.5 per cent y/y from -5.6 per cent y/y in October, added with improved output from both manufacturing (+2.5 per cent y/y) and electricity (+1.6 per cent y/y).
Meanwhile, the mining output reported its first positive growth after four months in contraction. Natural gas output rebounded by expanding by 3.7 per cent y/y in November from -6.3 per cent y/y in October.
“For 2020, the GDP is expected to grow around 4.6 per cent supported by private consumption, gross fixed capital formation from the mild expansionary Budget 2020 and complemented by exports,” Dass said. ― Bernama
