Lim Monthly Data Extremely Volatile Doesn T Give True Picture Of Economy

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Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng says people should not lose focus over short-term fluctuations, especially when the overall economic situation is more accurately depicted by longer-term trends.PETALING JAYA: Giving a monthly snapshot of the economy is not accurate because it does not correspond with Malaysia’s performance over the whole year, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said today
He said this when commenting on an October 2018 article, citing Nikkei’s reports, which he said had been made viral by irresponsible elements to give the misleading perception that the economy is currently recording negative statistics that are bad for the Malaysian economy
“The two-month-old article uses August trade statistics, specifically stating that the trade surplus figure of only RM1.6 billion was the lowest in 45 months
“Just two months after the August figures, in October, Malaysia’s trade surplus rose to a record of RM16.3 billion, the highest level ever in Malaysian history
“Exports rose 17.7% to RM96.4 billion in the same month, a record high for the country
“This shows monthly data is extremely volatile and does not give the entire picture of the domestic economy
“Therefore, we should not lose focus over short-term fluctuations, especially when the overall economic situation is more accurately depicted by longer-term trends,” Lim said in a statement today
He said figures such as the Nikkei Malaysia Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for December 2018 falling to a low of 46.8 points were only relevant to that particular month
But this should not be considered as a reflection of the entire economy for the whole year, he added
“PMI figures may go up in later months, just like the sterling trade performance in the month of October 2018
“Indeed, longer-term figures such as approved manufacturing foreign direct investments (FDI) for the first nine months of 2018 rose 250% to RM49 billion
“These investments will be realised in the future to create high-quality jobs for Malaysians
“Additionally, Malaysia’s stock market was the second best performer in Asia-Pacific in 2018.”Lim said inflation averaged only 1.0% year-on-year for the first 11 months of 2018, helped by the removal of the goods and services tax (GST) and replaced with the sales and service tax (SST)
“Inflation will remain favourable to consumers in the near future due to low energy prices
“The ringgit has improved to RM4.14 to US$1 today, from RM4.20 in November 2018 when it was at its weakest.”The finance minister said Malaysia still had a sizable current account surplus of RM22.7 billion, or 2.5% of GDP, as of end September 2018, with the positive current account balance expected to persist this year as well
“This is partly the reason why Malaysia’s international credit ratings have been maintained and the reason Bloomberg placed Malaysia as the best among 20 emerging markets for investment.”He stressed that the domestic banking system continues to have sufficient liquidity while the monetary system is healthy and stable

“The government will continue to help grow the economy sustainably to benefit the rakyat.” - FMT

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