Last week’s highlights

• Ministry of Finance Malaysia (MOF) had released its 72nd LAKSANA report
• Malaysia’s IPI decreased marginally -0.7% yoy in August; +3.2% mom
• Malaysia’s distributive trade dropped by 10.2% yoy in August; +7.9% mom
• The FBM KLCI rose by 2.20% or 34.38 points for the week to settle at 1,598.28 points
• US headline inflation rose by 5.4% yoy in September
• US PPI for final demand rose by 8.6% yoy in September
• UK unemployment rate dropped to 4.5% in the three months to August
• China’s CPI rose 0.7% yoy in September
• China exports continued double-digit growth of 28.1% yoy in September
• Singapore's first estimates GDP grew by 6.5% yoy in the 3Q21
• BOK kept the policy rate unchanged, while MAS and Chile tightening
• Week Ahead Economic Review

MALAYSIA ECONOMY

According to the Ministry of Finance Malaysia (MOF) 72nd LAKSANA report, under the Special Nursery Assistance, a total of RM3.6m had been disbursed to 1,194 childcare operators supervised by the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development. Meanwhile, under technical and digital adoption for SMEs and mid-tier companies (MTC) programs, a total of RM84.2m has been distributed to 13,884 recipients. For the SME digitalization grant, 38,870 SMEs had received a total of RM105.94m under the program. Furthermore, a total of RM152.3m had been disbursed to 22 Bumiputera private institutes under Mudah Jaya Financing Scheme for Private Institute of Higher Learning Generator (SPiM PENJANA IPTS). Under the CENDANA initiative, a total of RM5.7m has been disbursed to 553 recipients to encourage local artists. The total financing approved under the Penjana Tourism Scheme was RM67.5m for 340 applications. Since last year, 2,943,908 claims amounting to RM1.114bn have been approved for the front-liners. The disbursed amount of wage subsidy 1.0 and 2.0 schemes stood at RM12.945bn and RM1.395bn, respectively.

Malaysia’s industrial production index (IPI) decreased marginally -0.7% yoy in August following a 5.1% contraction in July 2021. August’s IPI marked the second straights month of contraction in industrial output, albeit at a moderated pace. The contraction in IPI was due to supply chain disruptions and prolonged strict restrictions led to industrial output producing at a suboptimal level. The decline in August 2021 was caused by the decrease in the index of electricity (-4.8%) and mining (-4.2%) which outweighed the increase in manufacturing (+0.6%).

Malaysia’s distributive trade recorded sales of RM100.0bn in August, dropped by - 10.2% yoy following a 14.7% decline in July 2021. The fall marked the third straights month of decline. A substantial contraction was recorded in motor vehicle sales which shrank by 57.6% yoy in August, moderating from an 85.4% drop in July. Similarly, retail and wholesale trades fell by 7.5% yoy and 0.1% yoy, respectively. On a monthly basis, the sales value of wholesale & retail trade grew by 7.9% in August after a 0.5% gain in July. Sales of motor vehicle and retail increased by 188.1% mom and 2.9% mom, respectively. Meanwhile, the wholesale trade sub-sector rebounded by 4.7%, a reversal of a 2.4% drop in July.

Source: BIMB Securities Research - 18 Oct 2021