According to Socio-Economic Research Centre (SERC) executive director Lee Heng Guie, Malaysia’s potential gross domestic product (GDP) growth is only about 3% to 4%, and the country is likely to record a growth of just 4% this year. He expects Malaysia to see a cautious recovery in the second half of 2021, following an economic growth of 7.1% year-on-year (y-o-y) in the first six months of the year. “The uptick in unemployment rate to 4.8% in July also weighed on consumer sentiment,” he said. Based on available data, he noted that discretionary consumer spending was off to a weak start in Q3. Amid the soft consumer spending, Lee added that cash handouts, the Employees Provident Fund or EPF withdrawal schemes and loan moratorium have continued to provide temporary relief.
