As recent as November last year, Guan Eng said Malaysia remained on track to achieve its 2019 GDP growth target of 4.7%, noting that “4Q is typically a strong quarter in terms of economic growth”. Bank Negara Malaysia, meanwhile, is forecasting Malaysia’s GDP growth in 2019 to come in at between 4.3% and 4.8%. Malaysia’s GDP growth stood at 4.5%, 4.9% and 4.4% in 1Q19, 2Q19 and 3Q19 respectively — for an average of 4.6% in the first nine months of the year. UOB is projecting a GDP growth of 4.4% for 2020 as it noted that there is now added uncertainty to Malaysia’s growth outlook given the Wuhan virus outbreak. This has led it to shave the country’s full-year GDP growth to 4.5% from its previous forecast of 4.6%.

Source: The Edge Markets February 11, 2020 00:33 UTC