Illustrative photo (Photo: New Straits Times)The Central Bank of Malaysia (BNM) has forecast that Malaysia’ economy will grow by between 4.3 and 4.8 percent this year, the country’s News Strait Times reported on March 24.
Gradual improvement of global growth, commodity prices and domestic demand would lend assistance to economic activities, said BNM Governor Muhammad Ibrahim on March 23.
Inflation pressure will likely to rise due to higher global commodity and energy prices and weaker ringgit.
There will be months when the inflation rates go up to above 4 percent, he noted.
The Governor added that all sectors are projected to register positive growth this year, with the services and manufacturing industries as the key contributors to overall growth.
The agriculture sector is also expected to recover after the El Nino weather phenomenon while the mining is predicted to remain steady.
The Alliance Bank also projected that Malaysia’s economic growth will be around 4.4 percent with the resilience in private consumption amid manageable headwinds like soft labour market and weak consumer confidence./.