Economy to recover gradually: DOSM

Kuala Lumpur: The Malaysian economy will recover gradually in the months ahead, said the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).

This will mainly be supported by the performances of manufacturing sales and production, sales and volume of wholesale and retail trade and external trade.

DOSM noted this in its Malaysian Economic Statistics Review (MESR) report on Wednesday.

The report highlights the latest economic and social statistics produced by the department and provides an in-depth analysis based on the recent statistics released in July.

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Chief Statistician of Malaysia Datuk Sri Dr. Mohd Uzir Mahidin said robust and befitting policies such as Prihatin and Penjana packages had been the catalysts to balance the overall consequences of the Movement Control Order (MCO) and Covid-19 outbreak to the economy.

Uzir said the packages had not only helped to ease households’ financial burden but had also stimulated the domestic spending that sparks the local businesses.

He said a significant improvement in business sentiment and rebound in operation activities had contributed to the 8.8 per cent export growth in June to RM82.9 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of RM20.9 billion.

“Besides, the Industrial Production Index (IPI) surged at 18.2 per cent in May compared with the previous month. The wholesale and retail trade sales value also rebounded at 26.3 per cent in May 2020 against the previous month,” he said.

On the other hand, he said Malaysia’s labour force participation rate in May was 68.0 per cent, slightly lower than April as outflows into the outside labour force continued to increase.

“The number of employed persons fell by 0.3 per cent while the unemployment rate recorded 5.3 per cent after posting 5.0 per cent in the previous month.

“The decline in the number of employed persons is expected to reduce the income received by households, hence affecting their purchasing power,” he said.

A recent report by DOSM found that the income gap among households had broadened as reflected by Gini Coefficient, which increased from 0.399 in 2016 to 0.407 in 2019.

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Nevertheless, the report said the continuous stimulus packages injected by the government were expected to gradually improve market situation. This will further stimulate a healthy labour market condition which will generate income for the households.

“This will consequently increase domestic consumption activities and uplift the Malaysian households’ overall well-being,” it added.

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