New Country Reports research report from Business Monitor International is now available from Fast Market Research

Boston, MA -- (SBWire) -- 11/29/2013 --Cooling external demand should continue to drag on the overall economy and we expect Malaysia's full-year real GDP growth will come in relatively weak at just 4.6%, with the balance of risks slightly skewed to the downside. However, resilient private consumption growth, which came in at 7.2% y-o-y in Q213 and 7.5% in Q113, should help to keep domestic demand robust over the coming months.

We forecast Malaysia's fiscal deficit to rise from 4.5% in 2012 to 4.9% in 2013, owing to the lack of progress on budgetary reforms to address the country's deteriorating fiscal position. We reiterate our view that any meaningful budgetary reforms will require the government to introduce the GST bill at the upcoming budget announcement scheduled for October.

View Full Report Details and Table of Contents

Despite mounting concerns that fuel price hikes implemented by the Malaysian government in September could generate inflationary pressures over the coming months, we maintain our view that the country's medium-term outlook for consumer price inflation (CPI) will remain benign. We expect Bank Negara Malaysia to keep its policy rate on hold at 3.00% through 2013 before we see scope for a 25 basis points hike in 2014.

Major Forecast Changes

We have revised up our forecast for real GDP growth from 4.2% to 4.6% in 2013 to reflect the better-than-expected economic data in recent months.

About Fast Market Research
Fast Market Research is an online aggregator and distributor of market research and business information. Representing the world's top research publishers and analysts, we provide quick and easy access to the best competitive intelligence available. Our unbiased, expert staff will help you find the right research to fit your requirements and your budget. For more information about these or related research reports, please visit our website at http://www.fastmr.com or call us at 1.800.844.8156.

Browse all Country Reports research reports at Fast Market Research

You may also be interested in these related reports:

- Chile Business Forecast Report Q1 2014
- Hungary Business Forecast Report Q1 2014
- Mexico Business Forecast Report Q1 2014
- Brazil Business Forecast Report Q1 2014
- Lithuania Business Forecast Report Q1 2014
- Kuwait Business Forecast Report Q1 2014
- Croatia Business Forecast Report Q1 2014
- United Arab Emirates Business Forecast Report Q1 2014
- Slovakia Business Forecast Report Q1 2014
- Canada Business Forecast Report Q1 2014