Economically, A Good Start For The Year (Updated)

Malaysia's GDP grew at an unexpected 5.3% in the first quarter of this year, compared to consensus estimate of 4.7%. Both construction and services sector were the major contributor, with 4% and 9.6% growth respectively. As expected, construction sector is aided by the rolling out of 9MP or (9th Malaysia Plan) while the services sector is boosted by growth in the Financial Services, Telecommunication and tourism sectors, in conjunction with the Visit Malaysia Year campaign.

Interesting to note that the Central Bank of Malaysia has adopted Year 2000 as the base year for GDP computation, instead of Year 1987. The move is widely seen as positive, due to an unexpectedly strong first quarter. This also shows that the economic slowdown in US is not entirely a doom and gloom for Malaysia's economy. It could also be an indication that Asia's economy is well supported by the economic boom in China and India, therefore leveraging the impact of US slowdown.

On the other hand, inflation for the first quarter averages 2.6%, which is at a manageable level.

Not forgetting, the local stock market has also done very well, outperforming many countries and becoming the 3rd best performer in the Asia region.