Q2 GDP lower q-on-q, Bank Negara slashes annual growth forecast
Malaysia’s Q2 GDP (RM343 billion) was 2 percent lower than the preceding quarter (RM357.9 billion).
The second quarter saw the Klang Valley enter lockdown on May 12 followed by “total lockdown” on June 1 due to Covid-19 infection surge.
Q2 GDP was still 16.1 percent better than...
Malaysia’s Q2 GDP (RM343 billion) was 2 percent lower than the preceding quarter (RM357.9 billion).
The second quarter saw the Klang Valley enter lockdown on May 12 followed by “total lockdown” on June 1 due to Covid-19 infection surge.
Q2 GDP was still 16.1 percent better than the same quarter last year, when lockdowns were first introduced.
Bank Negara governor Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus acknowledged that the positive year-on-year comparisons were due to the low base set.
On a year-on-year basis, construction, manufacturing, services, mining and quarrying sectors all recorded double digit growth percentages. Only agriculture saw negative growth (1.5 percent).
Imports and exports were up 37.6 percent and 37.4 percent respectively.
Private consumption was up 11.6 percent and government expenditure was up 9 percent.
The central bank expected the economy to grow between 3 percent and 4 percent in 2021, down from the 6 percent to 7.5 percent forecast in March.
“Malaysia’s growth recovery is expected to broadly resume in the later part of the second half of 2021 and improve going into 2022,” said Nor Shamsiah.
In 2020, Malaysia’s GDP shrank by 5.6 percent.
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