Malaysia's Growth Performance to Remain Healthy In 2018 - Moody's

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 20 (Bernama) -- Moody's Investors Service says Malaysia’s growth performance is likely to remain healthy in 2018, which is reflected in the country's credit rating. Its Vice-President and Senior Analyst for Sovereign Risk Group, Anushka Shah, said Malaysia, with an A3 credit profile, was among the fastest-growing A-rated sovereigns. However, she noted that growth might slow in 2019. "Here (in Malaysia) you do have an environment of trade uncertainty, and this could weigh on growth prospects going forward. "But we do think that the potential performance remains relatively strong," she said at a media round-table session here Wednesday. Anushka said Malaysia's trade flow was strong in 2017 with export growth outperforming other regional peers, thus providing some buffer to the current account. On debt, she said Malaysia's fiscal metrics, which were relatively weak, could be a key credit constraint to the rating. "Despite several consecutive years of deficit consolidation, (Malaysia's) debt burden is significantly higher than the median for A-rated sovereigns," she added. -- BERNAMA