The latest report shows that the Malaysian economy expanded at 3.7% last year compared to high growth in 2022, namely 8.7% during economic recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic era.
KDNK growth for the full year 2023 turned out to be slightly lower than the government's official target of 4.0 to 5.0 percent and is now below analyst expectations of around 3.9 percent.
For the fourth quarter of 2023, the KDNK of developing countries was 3.0 percent, a slight decrease compared to the 3.3 percent recorded in the previous quarter, but higher than the 2.9 percent recorded in the second quarter.
Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) in a statement said that this achievement was due to slower global trade factors, the global technological downturn, geopolitical tensions and tighter monetary policy.
At the domestic level, basic support has been missed if the economy begins to open in 2022 with a recovery in economic activity and labor market conditions continuing to support growth in 2023.
He said again, the achievement of economic growth is strengthened by a sustainable external position with the current account excess for 2023 maintained at 1.2% of Gross Domestic Output (KDNK) and supported by an export structure that is diverse across markets and products.
However, foreign debt remains manageable given its mature maturity and currency profile.
One-third of the external debt is ringgit-denominated which poses currency risks and around 70% of the debt has a longer simple term maturity.
