The headquarters of the Malaysian Central Bank (Photo: malaysia-chronicle)The World Bank (WB) has projected Malaysia’s economy to become a high-income country at some point between 2020 and 2024.
Malaysia’s national news agency Bernama quoted the bank as saying that the Malaysian economy will expand 4.7 percent in 2019 and 4.6 percent in 2020 despite challenges.
For 2018, the country’s economic growth is expected to stand at 4.9 percent, underpinned by continued strong growth in private consumption. Last year, the figure was 5.9 percent.
“As a highly-open economy, Malaysia will continue to face substantial risks relating to uncertainty in the external environment,” the WB said in its latest economic report on the region.
In Navigating Uncertainty, the Oct 2018 edition of the East Asia and Pacific Economic Update, the World Bank said heightened financial market volatility – either triggered by shifting monetary policy expectations in advanced economies, or crises in other regions – could spread across emerging economies, including Malaysia, through capital outflows and pressures on exchange rates.
“Another key risk relates to the escalation in protectionist tendencies and trade tensions in some major economies which could have an adverse impact on Malaysia, given its high level of integration with global markets and its dependence on global value chains as a source of growth,” said the bank./.