Lim: 2019 a challenging year for Malaysia's economy

Publish date: Sat, 05 Jan 2019, 03:25 PM
GEORGE TOWN: 2019 will be a challenging year for Malaysia’s economy.
 
This is due to the on-going US-China trade war, geopolitical concerns in the Middle East, global monetary tightening and swings in oil prices, said Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng.
 
He said the Malaysian economy especially the stock market will not be spared from the external factors happening outside the country.
 
However, he expressed optimism that the nation’s economy will continue to remain on a steady growth path supported by domestic and external demand.
 
“Despite a turbulent year, our stock market has remained resilient in comparison to our peers in Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, and China. Amidst large capital outflows among emerging markets and ASEAN countries this year, the FBM KLCI benchmark index registered a year-to-date (YTD) decline of 5.8 per cent as at end-November, compared to other Asian markets that have experienced declines ranging from 9.1 per cent to 22.7 per cent ,” he said in his keynote address at the MarketPlace @ Penang Fair 2019 here today.
 
He added that Malaysia was the second-best performing stock market in the Asia Pacific region.
 
Lim said on the back of a challenging environment for global equity markets, facing external headwinds such as the ongoing US-China trade war, geopolitical concerns in the Middle East, global monetary tightening and swings in oil prices, trading activities in the local stock market remained robust with an average daily value trade of close to RM2.5 billion as at end-November 2018.
 
“This is still an improvement from last year’s RM2.3 billion, which indicates that general interest remains intact as investors take opportunities on the market volatilities,” he said.
 
Lim said if there is a resolution to the US-China trade war, there is a high possibility that the stock market will rise as it is determined primarily by external factors.
 
He said the government has introduced various policies and measures to invigorate the capital market.
 
“For example, the waiver for stamp duty for trading in Exchange-Traded Funds, SWs (Structured Warrants), stocks of mid- and small-cap companies was introduced to encourage greater investor participation in this segment of the market,” he said.
 
Given the alarming red flags, Lim said it is crucial for Malaysians to step up on their financial literacy and increase their efforts to learn smart ways to manage their finances, particularly investing in a regulated environment instead of falling victim to get-rich-quick schemes or fraudulent companies and investment scams.
 
“Financial literacy among Malaysians is still seriously lacking where people generally are not informed of its importance and the impact it has on a person’s future and lifestyle,” he said. - Bernama
 

 

Discussions
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Albukhary

When the economy is good, your neighbour (same age with you) income gradually increase from RM3000 per month to RM15,000 per month, while your income slowly increase from RM3000 to RM3800.

Now this year, economy turn bad, your neighbour income drop from RM15,000 to RM13,000, while your income still able to increase from RM3,800 to RM3,850. You feel yourself are better than your neighbour.

2019-01-08 11:42

joekit

yes ah...malaysia very resilient...fall until low low ady....slow slow buy now is the right choice....suddenly...oh....suddenly...cheong up like mad!

2019-01-08 15:39

UnicornP

If anything, Malaysia still got oil, rubber, wood, aluminum and seafood mah.. Lucky us.

2019-01-08 23:33

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