Malaysian central bank keeps growth forecast at 6 - 7.5 percent for 2021
Despite the recent re-imposition of nationwide pandemic containment measures by the federal government, the central bank of Malaysia (BNM) maintained its growth projection for the local economy at between 6 percent and 7.5 percent in 2021.
A bird's-eye view of Kuala Lumpur July 8, 2020. (Photo: malaymail.com)
Kuala Lumpur (VNA) - Despite the recent re-impositionof nationwide pandemic containment measures by the federal government, thecentral bank of Malaysia (BNM) maintained its growth projection for the localeconomy at between 6 percent and 7.5 percent in 2021.
In a briefing published on May 11, the BNM said Malaysia’sGross Domestic Product (GDP) recorded a smaller contraction at -0.5 percent inthe first quarter of 2021 compared to the -3.4 percent posted in the fourthquarter of 2020, despite the imposition of the second nationwide movementcontrol order (MCO).
Also in the first quarter, all economic sectors registeredan improvement, particularly the manufacturing sector with a growth of 6.6percent compared to 3 percent recorded in the last quarter of 2020.
The growth of sectors such as services, mining andconstruction, though still declined compared to the same period last year, butthe degree of reduction improved compared to the fourth quarter of 2020.Specifically, the service and mining sectors narrowed their decreases from -4.8and -10.4 percent in Q4 last year to -2.3 and -5 percent in Q1 of 2021, respectively./.
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A bird's-eye view of Kuala Lumpur July 8, 2020. (Photo: malaymail.com) 
