Malaysia's economy grew 4.4% in the first quarter of 2025
James 22 May 2025 07:40ENCopy link & title
According to the latest data released by Glodon, Malaysia's economy grew by 4.4% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2025, lower than the market expectation of 4.5% and lower than the 4.9% in the fourth quarter of last year, slowing down for the third consecutive quarter.
Bank Negara Governor Abdul Rashid said that the growth in the first quarter was mainly driven by the improvement of the labor market, the expansion of household consumption, the increase in investment and the export of electronic and electrical products.
However, the decline in oil and gas production and the return to normal of automobile sales suppressed the overall performance. Affected by the US tariff policy, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have lowered their growth forecasts for Malaysia this year to 4.1% and 3.9%, respectively, while analysts' average expectation is 4.2%.
The central bank expects full-year growth to be slightly lower than the original target of 4.5% to 5.5%, and will update the forecast in the next one or two months.
Bank Negara Governor Abdul Rashid said that the growth in the first quarter was mainly driven by the improvement of the labor market, the expansion of household consumption, the increase in investment and the export of electronic and electrical products.
However, the decline in oil and gas production and the return to normal of automobile sales suppressed the overall performance. Affected by the US tariff policy, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have lowered their growth forecasts for Malaysia this year to 4.1% and 3.9%, respectively, while analysts' average expectation is 4.2%.
The central bank expects full-year growth to be slightly lower than the original target of 4.5% to 5.5%, and will update the forecast in the next one or two months.
