Report: Malaysian economy forecast surpassed

PETALING JAYA: Despite all the naysaying by some quarters, statistics show that the Malaysian economy is going to surpass projections for the gross domestic product (GDP) this year, the Straits Times reported.

Citing Katadata, an Indonesian-based online business and economic research firm, the Singapore daily said that Malaysia’s strong economic growth has even forced analysts and the government to revise upwards their projections for this year and the next.

“Market predictions of gross domestic product (GDP) expanding around 4.5% in the first three quarters of the year have been surpassed. Growth accelerated instead from 5.6% in the first three months of the year to 6.2% in the July-to-September period,” ST said.

What this means is that Putrajaya now expects a growth of 5.2% to 5.7%, compared with a 4% to 5% projection made a year ago. This bodes well for Malaysia’s economy next year, as the forecast by the government stands at 5% to 5.5%.

Malaysia’s economy, which is the third biggest in Southeast Asia, has especially benefitted from the boom in infrastructure projects.

According to the report, the construction sector has registered massive growth this year with its ever-increasing order books helping to register more than 6% growth across all quarters.

The Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) believes the sector is expected to grow by 8% to RM170 billion this year.

“With the various government infrastructure projects boosting the sector, earnings prospects remain strong with most players sitting on record order books,” AmBank Research analyst Joshua Ng was quoted as saying.

With the going being so good, it has also benefitted employees in the construction sector.

“The industry has so many projects to execute that competing firms are busy pinching talent from each other. You bump into the same faces when you move from (one project to another)”, Sunway Construction deputy managing director Liew Kok Wing told ST.

The company won RM4 billion in new deals in the last quarter, which is double its target. A large part of that was thanks to a successful bid for the RM2.18 billion tender to expand the Light Rail Transit (LRT) line. -FMT