Malaysia Economic Growth Improves; Inflation Eases Slightly

(RTTNews) - The Malaysian economy expanded at an accelerated pace in the third quarter, largely led by strong contributions from the construction and service sectors, preliminary data from the Department of Statistics showed on Friday.

Separate official data showed that consumer price inflation eased somewhat in September after remaining stable in the previous month.

Gross domestic product registered an annual growth of 3.3 percent in the third quarter, following a 2.9 percent rise in the second quarter.

On the production side, the annual growth in the service sector quickened to 5.1 in the third quarter from 4.7 percent in the previous quarter. The favorable performance was attributed to the wholesale and retail trade, transportation and storage and business services sub-sectors.

Construction activity also expanded strongly, which grew 5.8 percent after a 6.2 percent growth in the second quarter.

Data showed that the agriculture sector recovered 0.8 percent in the September quarter, after falling 1.1 percent in the June quarter.

Capital Economics economist Gareth Leather expects growth to slow again over the coming months, with high interest rates, tighter fiscal policy and weak global growth set to drag on the economy. The firm forecast Malaysia's GDP to grow by just 3.5 percent this year and 4.5 percent in 2024.

The detailed data for the third quarter is set to be published on November 17.

The consumer price index rose 1.9 percent year-over-year in September, slightly slower than the previous month's stable rate of increase of 2.0 percent.

In September, the annual price growth for food and non-alcoholic beverages moderated to 3.9 percent from 4.1 percent. Utility costs were 1.6 percent more expensive compared to last year.

At the same time, transport costs posted a smaller decline of 0.1 percent.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices edged up 0.1 percent in September.