KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 26 — MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd (MIDF Research) has reiterated its forecast that Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP) will grow 4.2 per cent in 2023 before picking up to 4.7 per cent next year following the narrower contraction in the leading index (LI) recorded in August 2023.
Data released by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) yesterday showed the contraction of the LI, a tool utilised for predicting economic trends four to six months ahead, narrowed by 0.5 per cent to 109.7 points in August 2023 from a decline of 1 per cent (108.9 points) in July 2023.
MIDF Research said in a note today that it viewed the improvement in the LI as signalling better growth momentum in the coming months, although the continued decline indicated that the momentum would remain moderate.
On the coincident index (CI) which rose 2.1 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) in August 2023, the research house said the sustained expansion in CI indicated that the current economic growth remained supported mainly by increases in domestic economic activities.
“We believe the LI will show further improvement and the CI will continue to grow in the coming months, as we foresee sequential growth momentum will gradually improve on the back of recovering external trade and sustained expansion in domestic demand,” it said.
— Bernama
