Malaysia Q4 growth moderates, but 5.9% for full year

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia’s Q4 GDP growth moderated to 5.9% y/y from 6.2% y/y in the previous quarter, giving a full-year result of 5.9% growth, up from 4.2% in 2016. Underpinning the performance was continued strength in private consumption and investment as well as a pick-up in Government consumption.

For full year 2018, ANZ Bank is tipping growth to remain solid at 5.8% y/y.

“We believe that Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) will use this phase of strong growth to further normalise monetary policy, “ANZ says.

“We expect the central bank to raise its overnight policy rate (OPR) by 25bps to 3.50% in September 2018. This is despite the fact that inflation has moderated in recent months.”  www.live.anz.com (ATI).