World Bank Expects Malaysia's Current Account Surplus To Fall To 2.1 Per Cent This Year

KUALA LUMPUR, June 30 (Bernama) -- The World Bank expects Malaysia's current account surplus to narrow further this year to 2.1 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from 3.0 per cent last year. "This is based on reduction in commodity balance on export of commodity due to low commodity prices compared to last year," Senior Country Economist, Malaysia, Dr Rafael Munoz Moreno told reporters after the launch of the Malaysian Economic Monitor (MEM) report here Thursday. He said the projected decline in the current account surplus was due to the increase in imports because of substantial investments seen in the country. Exports in the manufacturing sector however helped to mitigate the decline, he said. Earlier, Moreno gave a presentation on MEM report, titled "Implementing Trade Agreements". During his presentation, he said the current account surplus had narrowed to 3.0 per cent last year from 4.4 per cent in 2014, reflecting the lower trade surplus following lower commodity prices and a higher deficit in services. The current account surplus further narrowed to 1.7 per cent of GDP in the first quarter of 2016 due to higher net payments for construction and telecommunication services. It was reported that Malaysia's current account surplus in the first quarter of this year fell to US$1.25 billion (RM5.04 billion), dragged down by a lower goods-account surplus and a higher services-account deficit. Meanwhile, asked whether the United Kingdom's decision to exit the European Union after having joined the trading bloc in 1973 would affect the Malaysian economy, he said: "The World Bank will continue monitoring the global economic situation that will influence the Malaysian economy and its growth projection". Moreno said at this moment, the World Bank's projection for Malaysia's GDP at 4.4 per cent for 2016 remains intact. "We are also not considering a recession for the global economy due to this. Our projection for global growth for this year has been revised to 2.4 per cent from 2.9 per cent," he said. --BERNAMA