Bank Negara lowers 2019 GDP forecast to 4.8 pct

Bank Negara has revised the country's 2019 GDP forecast to 4.3 and 4.8 percent, down from its previous estimate of 4.9 percent.

Governor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus said the move was in tandem with similar growth revisions on the global economy.

"Global growth was revised downwards from 3.7 percent (to 3.5 percent) and world trade was also revised downwards.

"That was the main reason why, looking forward, we are projecting a growth of between 4.3 percent to 4.8 percent this year instead of 4.9 percent that was projected earlier," she told a press conference at the central bank's headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today.

The bank also forecasted private consumption, the services sector, the manufacturing sector and gross exports to contract in 2019 compared to last year.

Earlier, Shamsiah had unveiled the bank's 2018 annual report, which reported the country's GDP growth last year as 4.7 percent.

This was down from the forecasted 5.5 to 6 percent. GDP growth in 2017 was 5.9 percent.

The governor explained that global trade tensions and regime change in the 14th general election as main factors for causing uncertainty in the economy in 2018.

"We faced several major domestic challenges, ranging from unplanned commodity price disruptions to the historic political transition," she said.

[More to follow] - Mkini