Malaysia to experience short-term benefit from China

RHB Investment Bank said Malaysia is expecting a short-term benefit from the reopening of China’s economy after COVID-19 but the general weakness is likely to kick in as recession seems to be looming.

It said supply disruption in China has led to a spike in Malaysia’s exports and imports, with exports of commodities as well as electrical and electronics pulled the overall exports upward.

The Department of Statistics Malaysia recently shared the country’s trade figure for the month of February which showed the number rising 11.6 per cent to RM136.3 billion compared to the same month in the previous year.

It said exports expanded 11.8 per cent to RM74.5 billion year-on-year, attributed to an expansion in exports to Singapore, the United States, South Korea and China.

Meanwhile, RHB Investment Bank said growth in intermediate goods and consumption goods kept imports robust with industrial growth emerged as among the country’s strongest as disruptions in China caused a spike in demand.

However, the investment bank said retail sales continued to moderate.

RHB Investment Bank also said weak public sector investment posed a drag to growth.

The country gross domestic product growth came down from 4.7 per cent in 2018 to 4.3 per cent in 2019.

It is expected to register 0.0 per cent growth for this year, according to the investment bank, before expected to hit 5.7 per cent in 2021.

Source: Bernama