Malaysian Economic Outlook To Improve In 2021 - DOSM

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 23 (Bernama) -- Malaysia’s economic prospects is expected to improve next year, following the sharp rebound in the Leading Index (LI), signifying an economic recovery in the near future, said Department of Statistics Malaysia’s (DOSM) chief statistician Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin. In a statement, he said the LI, which indicates future economic direction, showed a year-on-year increase for three consecutive months. In July 2020, the LI expanded 7.7 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to 109.2 points from 101.4 points in July 2019. "On a month-on-month basis, the LI grew 4.4 per cent, with the largest positive growth recorded by the Bursa Malaysia Industrial Index at 1.8 per cent," he said. However, he said the positive indicator should be viewed with caution since the COVID-19 pandemic is still lingering both locally and globally. Mohd Uzir said the Coincident Index (CI), which reflects the current economic condition, has been gradually improving since May 2020, in line with other economic indicators such as wholesale and retail, manufacturing and external sector. "Additionally, the Industrial Production Index (IPI) surged 1.2 per cent in July 2020, demonstrating positive growth for the first time since February 2020, driven by the 2.9 per cent increase in the Manufacturing Index,” he said. "At the same time, exports continued to record positive growth in July 2020, expanding by 3.1 per cent y-o-y to RM92.5 billion, the highest value recorded since November 2018,” he said. Meanwhile, Mohd Uzir encouraged all Malaysians to give their full cooperation and commitment towards the Malaysia Population and Housing Census 2020 (Census 2020). The first phase of the online Census 2020 (e-Census) started on July 7, to end on Sept 30, 2020, while the second phase will begin on Oct 7-24, 2020, which will be conducted via face-to-face interviews. -- BERNAMA