Malaysia's economic growth fell short of expectations in the second quarter of this year, the slowest rate of expansion in nearly two years.
Most recently, the Department of Statistics Malaysia reported gross domestic product (GDP) moderated to 2.9% year-on-year from the 5.6% growth recorded in the first quarter.
It missed analysts' expectations of 3.3% growth, thus weakening Malaysia's growth prospects this year.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, GDP rose 1.5% year-on-year from the 0.9% recorded in the first quarter of 2023.
For the first half of 2023, the economy grew 4.2% compared to 6.8% in the same period of 2022.
This weakness has been influenced by weaker global demand amid a global technology down cycle, low commodity production as well as high base effects from the second quarter of 2022.
Private consumption decreased, while net trade contributed negatively to GDP with exports falling by 9.4% and imports contracting by 6.5%.
Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) projects the economy to grow between 4% and 5% in 2023, supported by strong domestic demand.
