BENGALURU : Malaysia's economic growth likely slowed by more than half to 6.6 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2022 due to tepid consumption and softer global demand, a Reuters poll found.
The Feb. 2-7 poll of 21 economists predicted southeast Asia's third-largest economy to have expanded 6.6 per cent in the October-December quarter, down from the third quarter's double-digit growth of 14.2 per cent. Brian Tan, an economist at Barclays, whose Q4 forecast was for 8 per cent growth, said the slowdown was likely due to an"unfavourable base effect and dissipating pent-up demand". However, he said the figures were"still solid."
In December, China abandoned its three-year zero-COVID policy, which is likely to provide a significant boost to the Malaysian economy which is beginning to show signs of a slow down."Exports to China have been weak in Q4, which has dragged down overall growth. Although China's recent easing of its zero-COVID policy is a bright spot, the initial transition period will be bumpy," wrote Denise Cheok, economist at Moody's Analytics.