AEIR 2021

The economy grew by 4.3% in 2019, its slowest in a decade, down from 4.7% in 2018. Despite decelerating slightly, growth in private consumption remained robust at 7.6%, offsetting sluggish growth in exports and domestic investment. Inflation remained muted at 0.7% even with strong consumption and some monetary policy easing—the central bank cut its policy rate from 3.25% to 3.00% in May. Export earnings declined by 4.3% due to weaker global growth, the trade tensions between the United States and the People’s Republic of China, and lower commodity prices. With the COVID-19 outbreak disrupting supply chains and travel, exports of goods and services are expected to continue to contract. GDP growth is thus expected to drop to 0.5% in 2020 before recovering to 5.5% in 2021.
Source: Asian Development Outlook 2020, ADB
Latest Month-Ago Year-Ago
Composite Stock Price Index 1 1.0 (Feb21)1.0 1.0
Broad Money Growth 2 4.3 (Jan21)4.3 4.1
Headline Inflation Rate 3 -0.3 (Jan21)-1.4 1.6
Industrial/ Manufacturing Production Growth Rate 3 1.7 (Dec20)-2.2 1.3
Merchandise Export Growth 3 7.7 (Jan21)7.7 13.3
Exchange Rate Index 4 107.8 (Feb21)107.8 107.6
1 Monthly average, local index.
2 %.
3 y-o-y, %.
4 Monthly average, January 2006 = 100, $/local currency.
Source: Bloomberg LP; CEIC database; Department of Statistics of Malaysia.

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