Rafizi: Malaysia's economy expected to meet GDP growth of 4% to 5%

The Star

Malaysia's economy is expected to achieve a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 4% to 5%, as forecasted in Budget 2024, according to Rafizi Ramli.   Speaking to reporters after the launch of the Kempen Penyegar Dahaga RM1 event on Wednesday (Nov 15), the Economy Minister added that if the economy continues to grow in Q3, Malaysia will achieve its third consecutive quarter-on-quarter growth.  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

Transcript

00:00 Can you comment on the GDP Q3 announcement which is set to be on Friday?

00:06 And how do you see this will affect the overall forecast for 4-5%?

00:14 Is the government looking to cut the forecast?

00:17 The GDP announcement has not been made.

00:21 Yeah, GDP announcement has not been made.

00:24 So we'll have to wait for the GDP announcements.

00:28 But I think it's going to be better than Q2.

00:33 So that in itself is a good indication of the state of the economy.

00:42 Despite the global economic backdrop,

00:49 I think our economy will register a year-on-year growth compared to last quarter.

00:57 But most importantly, we will hit the third consecutive quarter-on-quarter growth,

01:05 which has never happened in the last three to four years.

01:09 In the last three to four years, our economy grew quarter-on-quarter, quarter-on-quarter, quarter-on-quarter.

01:15 Quarter-on-quarter has fallen back.

01:17 So I'm optimistic that it will be better than quarter-on-quarter.

01:22 And what is more important, with the third consecutive quarter-on-quarter growth,

01:28 it means that we are showing a better momentum,

01:33 especially when in 2024, moving towards 2025,

01:39 the global economic condition is expected to be better.

01:44 Sorry.

01:47 So for example, part of the reasons why the growth in Q2 was lower at 2.9

01:57 was because of the E&E exports.

02:01 A few quarters before that, globally, buyers were building stock.

02:07 So obviously they buy stock. After that, they stop buying, so they slow down.

02:11 There are signs that the E&E sector will start buying again, globally.

02:19 So that cycle will start again.

02:22 And obviously we can expect better in 2024.

02:27 And the general consensus is that the trading environment will get better in 2025.

02:34 So as I've mentioned, I know that it doesn't satisfy many people,

02:40 but I've said this time and time again,

02:44 that we cannot run away from the cyclical nature of our economy and the global economy.

02:53 What we want to make sure is that we can continue to grow,

02:58 albeit at a slightly slower pace in 2023,

03:03 but we must use all this opportunity to fix our structural problem.

03:09 The high debt, the fiscal situation, our labour market reforms, all has to continue

03:17 so that by the time the global economy picks up from the second half of 2024 onwards

03:24 towards a better recovery in 2025,

03:27 we are in the best position to benefit from that.

03:32 When E&E orders pick up again, our capacity is in the best place, and so on and so forth.

03:41 So I do think it will be better then.

03:44 And because of that, I don't think, at least now,

03:48 I don't think we are looking to revise the growth projection.

03:54 I think whatever that was announced by the Prime Minister in the budget,

03:58 which is about 4 to 5 percent,

04:01 I'm hoping that we will be able to meet at least 4 percent.

04:05 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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