Malaysia: Manufacturing points to slower GDP growth - ING

Prakash Sakpal, Economist at ING, notes that Malaysian industrial production growth slowed to 2.2% year-on-year in that month from 2.6% in July.

Key Quotes

“The outcome was slightly weaker than the consensus, which centred on 2.3% growth, with estimates ranging from our low-end 1.6% to 4.5% YoY.”

“Manufacturing and utilities dragged headline IP growth lower, while mining continued to contract albeit at a more moderate rate than in July.”

“Both exports and production growth are slowing on a trend basis (see figure), which will be associated with a slowdown in GDP growth. The high base-year effect also has been in play in driving the GDP slowdown.”

“We expect GDP growth to settle around 4% in the second half of the year, for a full-year average growth of 4.5%. Our forecast for 3Q remains at 4.1%.”