GDP to be revised down following latest MCO - Zafrul
Malaysia's forecast gross domestic product (GDP) growth for this year will have to be revised down, said Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz.
He told a press conference that the Finance Ministry and Bank Negara are currently studying the impact of the ongoing movement control order (MCO) on the country's GDP.
"The short answer is we expect...
Malaysia's forecast gross domestic product (GDP) growth for this year will have to be revised down, said Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz.
He told a press conference that the Finance Ministry and Bank Negara are currently studying the impact of the ongoing movement control order (MCO) on the country's GDP.
"The short answer is we expect the GDP forecast that we announced earlier will have to be revised downwards given the current MCO Phase 1 and Phase 2 that we are going through," he said during a virtual press conference this afternoon.
Zafrul was answering a question from the media on whether Putrajaya is still looking forward to the same GDP growth forecast of between 6.0 and 7.5 percent this year.
Last week, the World Bank said they revised their projection for Malaysia's economic growth to 4.5 percent compared to an earlier forecast of 6.0 percent.
According to Zafrul, the Pemulih financial aid package announced by the government yesterday will give a "two percent uplift".
They are also expecting the economy to slowly grow when the country moves from the current Phase 1 MCO to more advanced stages, which would see more economic sectors allowed to reopen.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced Pemulih, which stands for Pakej Perlindungan Rakyat dan Pemulihan Ekonomi (people’s protection and economic recovery package).
The aid is the largest package by the Perikatan Nasional government so far with aid estimated at RM150 billion, including a RM10 billion fiscal injection.
On this, Zafrul said the RM10 billion fiscal injection will be funded via three means - the country's revenue, including through increased dividends from government-linked companies; reduction of government expenditure; and increased borrowings.
Asked if Putrajaya intends to borrow from foreign or local sources, he said it will be local borrowing.
"We are looking only at local borrowing. We still have liquidity in the country, we will continue to do so," he said.
According to the minister, local borrowing makes 97 percent of the country's total borrowing.
