KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 — Malaysia is optimistic that the economic recovery will continue to be resilient in the third quarter of 2022 (Q3 2022), notwithstanding external risks and downward pressure after favourable performance was seen in Q1 2022, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said many countries recorded a better performance in Q1 2022, indicating that economic improvement is underway in spite of multiple ongoing global crises causing disruptions in the supply chain, inflationary pressure and pushing for tightening of monetary policies.
For instance, he said, the European Union, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US) recorded expansion of gross domestic product (GDP) and a similar trend was observed in Asian countries like China, South Korea, the Philippines and Thailand.
“As for Malaysia, the GDP grew better-than-expected by five per cent in Q1 2022 after registering a 3.6 per cent growth in the previous quarter,” he said in a statement today.
Citing the Malaysian Economic Statistics Review (MESR) Volume 5/2022 released by DOSM today, Mohd Uzir said several key countries’ economic indicators registered a positive trajectory in Q1 2022.
“With regard to the external sector, the current account balance remained surplus at RM3.0 billion, mainly supported by the net exports of goods account.
“Investment performance also improved, with foreign direct investment recording a higher net inflow of RM24.4 billion, while direct investment abroad posted a lower net outflow of RM3.6 billion,” he said.
He added that trade continued with its robust performance whereby total trade posted a double-digit growth of 23.6 per cent amounting to RM624.9 billion in Q1 2022.
In terms of the performance in March 2022, Mohd Uzir said the industrial production index posted a growth of 5.1 per cent against March 2021, backed by the manufacturing index which rose 6.9 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) driven by exports and domestic-oriented outputs.
On the prices segment, he said the consumer price index (CPI) for March 2022 rose by 2.2 per cent y-o-y, staying above Malaysia’s average inflation rate of 1.9 per cent from 2011 to March 2022.
“The producer price index (PPI) for local production also posted a double-digit growth of 11.6 per cent compared to 9.7 per cent in February 2022,” he said, adding that the leading index grew 0.4 per cent month-on-month to 111.3 points, indicating improved and favourable performance in Malaysia’s economy.
Mohd Uzir said DOSM’s recent Business Tendency Statistics also highlighted that business sentiment remained positive for Q2 2022, while in the forthcoming six months, the business sentiment outlook is also optimistic.
— Bernama
