KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 9 — MIDF Research has maintained its forecast on Malaysia’s retail trade growth at 15.3 per cent in 2023, as domestic demand continues its upbeat momentum.
The research firm said the positive momentum throughout the year would be underpinned by a resilient labour market, easing inflationary pressure, pick-up in tourism activities and supportive economic policies.
Malaysia’s retail trade growth stood at 5.8 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) in June, slightly better than May’s five per cent.
For the first half of 2023 (1H 2023), the retail trade remained at a double-digit pace.
“We opine the upward momentum of domestic demand will continue boosting gross domestic product (GDP) growth in 2H 2023 as well as overall 2023 expansion rate,” it said in a research note.
Overall distributive trade sales improved by 4.3 per cent y-o-y in June, the slowest growth pace since January 2022.
Wholesale trade grew by 3.1 per cent y-o-y, while sales of motor vehicles expanded by 3.4 per cent y-o-y.
As for 1H 2023, it noted that distributive trade sales grew by 9.1 per cent y-o-y, while retail sales rose by 13.3 per cent y-o-y.
By quarter, distributive trade sales expanded by 5.7 per cent y-o-y, signalling moderate GDP growth during the quarter.
“Despite inflation concerns, consumer demand remained robust as reflected in the distributive trade sales performance,” it said.
— Bernama
