• Ministry of Finance Malaysia (MOF) had released its 50th LAKSANA report last week.

• Malaysia’s CPI accelerated further by 1.7% yoy in March

• Leading Index (LI) for February 2021 grew further to 8.5% yoy

• The FBM KLCI increased by 0.003% or 0.05 points for the week to settle at 1,608.43 points

• The IHS Markit Flash U.S. Composite PMI Output Index posted 62.2 in April, up from 59.7 in March

• In 4Q20, the government debt to GDP ratio in the euro area stood at 98.0%, compared with 97.2% at the end of the 3Q20.

• Singapore's consumer price index rose 1.3% yoy (+0.2% mom nsa) in March

• Central banks of China, Indonesia, Canada and the EU maintained the interest rates, while Russia hikes.

MALAYSIA ECONOMY

• According to the Ministry of Finance Malaysia (MOF) 50th LAKSANA report, a total of RM107.23m was disbursed under the Agrobank microcredit financing scheme as of 9th April 2021. Meanwhile, under the SMEs PENJANA financing, 7,387 applications were approved with total funding of RM1.387bn. PENJANA microcredit financing BSN recorded approval of RM420.8m to 12,651 SMEs. Furthermore, RM62.5m had been channeled to 13,859 businesses in the form of grants and loans for subscription to digitization services. As of 9th April, the workers employed under the recruitment incentive and training assistance program stood at 132,403 persons. Under the wage subsidy 1.0 scheme, a total of RM12.872bn had disbursed as of 9th April. Meanwhile, for the wage subsidy 2.0 scheme, a total of RM1.148bn was provided to sustain the employment.

• Malaysia’s CPI accelerated further by 1.7% yoy in March compared to 0.1% yoy in the previous month. On a monthly basis, consumer prices remained unchanged at 0.3% in March. Non-food price index returned to inflation by 1.7% yoy (Feb: -0.6%; Jan: -1.1%), while food price index increased by +1.5% yoy (Feb: +1.4%; Jan: +1.5%). CPI without fuel, which covers all goods and services except RON95, RON97 and Diesel, increased 0.5% in March (Feb: +0.4%; Jan: +0.5%). Meanwhile, CPI in 1Q21 increased 0.5% yoy while on a quarterly basis, the CPI increased 1.8% qoq.

• Leading Index (LI) for February 2021 grew further to 8.5% yoy, an increase from 8.2% recorded in January. The expansion in LI was mainly driven by Bursa Malaysia Industrial Index with Health Care Index, Transportation and Logistic Index and Utilities Index as the contributors. Meanwhile, the LI showed positive growth of 1.1% mom. The Coincident Index (CI), which measures the overall current economic performance, grew 3.1% mom. On a yearly basis, the CI narrowed the decline by registering -2.0% yoy in February from -2.2% in January 2021.

Source: BIMB Securities Research - 26 Apr 2021