Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Firdaos Rosli said there was a need to improve investment predictability and transparency.
“We need to be more aggressive in export promotion and inward investment activities during the period of the cheap ringgit, because it may not last long.” Malaysia’s economy grew 5.6% in the first quarter of this year, outperforming economists’ expectations where a median forecast of 21 economists polled by Reuters had pointed to growth of 4.8%, down from a revised 7.1% in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Much of the present growth-led policies, such as infrastructure development, wage growth or technical upskilling initiatives, are mostly a continuation of past policies. Ferlito said the employment market has been picking up steadily due to the “post pandemic rebound” and “artificial effects” created by inflation.