Malaysia Economy Expands At Fastest Pace Since Late 2022

(RTTNews) - Malaysia's economy posted its fastest growth in six quarters with strong support from services and manufacturing sectors, official data revealed Friday.

Gross domestic product registered an annual growth of 5.8 percent in the second quarter after rising 4.2 percent in the previous quarter, advance estimate from the Department of Statistics revealed on Friday.

Further, this was the strongest growth since the fourth quarter of 2022, when GDP expanded by 7.4 percent.

The government had estimated the economy to grow 4 percent to 5 percent this year.

On a quarterly basis, GDP advanced 0.7 percent in the June quarter, reversing a 3.1 percent fall in the March quarter. Revised GDP data is due on August 16.

On the production side, the annual growth in the service sector improved to 5.6 percent from 4.7 percent. The agriculture sector grew markedly by 7.1 percent versus a 1.6 percent gain in the previous quarter. The performance was contributed by the growth of the oil palm and livestock sub-sectors.

Similarly, the yearly growth in the manufacturing sector quickened to 4.7 percent from 1.9 percent. Data showed that both mining and quarrying and construction sectors advanced by 3.3 percent and 17.2 percent, respectively.

In the first half of the year, GDP grew 5.0 percent compared to 4.1 percent in the same period in 2023.

Capital Economics' economist Shivaan Tandon said GDP growth accelerated sharply the second quarter but, with a jump in inflation set to curtail consumer spending and the boost from tourism likely to fade, a sharp slowdown is likely in the coming quarters.