Malaysian economy capable of positive growth in 2020
The Malaysian Islamic Party’s Central Committee on Economic, Real Estate and Entrepreneur Development has predicted that the country’s GDP growth rate can reach 2.5-3 percent in 2020 despite the COVID-19 outbreak.
Malaysia's GDP growth rate may reach 2.5-3 percent in 2020 (Source: themalaysianreserve)
Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – The Malaysian Islamic Party’s Central Committee onEconomic, Real Estate and Entrepreneur Development has predicted that thecountry’s GDP growth rate can reach 2.5-3 percent in 2020 despite the COVID-19outbreak.
Although it is a drastic reduction of pre-pandemicforecasts and the lowest since 2009, the projection runs counter to severalrecent predictions that the Malaysian economy would actually shrink by up to1.0 percent.
Vice Chairman of the committee Mazli Noor said thatthe 0.7 percent GDP growth registered in the first quarter is reflective of thecountry’s resilience in the context of the ongoing pandemic.
The relatively modest performance for the firstquarter of 2020 is supported by the services and manufacturing sectors, whichgrew 3.1 percent and 1.5 percent respectively, with other sectors experiencingvarying degrees of deficits.
He said that services, manufacturing and construction willplay a major role in the nation’s growth. Supported by the government'sPrihatin Economic Stimulus Package that was announced earlier, the committee isprojecting a 5.0 percent to 5.5 percent growth in the services sector thisyear, with manufacturing coming in at around 3.0 percent and constructioncontributing an estimated 1.0 percent to the nation’s economic growth.
The recently announced conditional movement controlorder (CMCO), which allows for a more flexible and deliberate reopening of theeconomic sector, also provides much-needed room for economic activities toresume, he added.
The committee agrees with analyst projections of afull economic and value chain recovery by the second half of 2020, with theconstruction sector - particularly that involving government publicinfrastructures - being allowed to return to full speed./.
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Malaysia's GDP growth rate may reach 2.5-3 percent in 2020 (Source: themalaysianreserve) 
