Malaysia’s economic growth can accelerate beyond 2020

• Nov 26, 2018

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s economic growth could accelerate beyond 2020 if commodity prices were to pick up on the back of a recovery in global economic growth.

Moody’s Analytics chief Asia-Pacific economist Steven G. Cochrane said Malaysia’s economic growth would likely slow down in the next two years as weak global economic outlook could weigh on commodity prices.

“Malaysia, as an open economy, is susceptible to global trend. Every region in the world could see slower growth in 2019 and 2020,” he told Bernama during the Moody’s Analytics Economic and Credit Risk Forum recently.

Cochrane projected that Malaysia’s real gross domestic product (GDP) growth may slow down from 5.9% in 2017 to 4.8% in 2018, 4.4% in 2019 and 3.6% in 2020.

“The lower commodity prices because of slower global economic growth will hurt emerging markets and Malaysia.

“We don’t see any acceleration in commodity prices until the global economy picks up,” he added.

Crude palm oil (CPO) prices have seen significant weakness since the start of this year, with CPO futures prices hovering near RM2,000 per tonne, due to high stock level and weak demand.

He said the US fiscal stimulus, which has been supporting the US economy, was expected to come to an end in 2020 and this may slow down the US economic growth and weigh on the global economy and the commodity market. — Bernama

Source: https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2018/11/26/economic-growth-can-accelerate-beyond-2020/#tYGkOFRDT5zj4SKX.99