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30 November 2019
https://twitter.com/gst183/status/1200769362216378372?s=20
KUALA LUMPUR: Chinese investments in Malaysia halved to US$1.7 billion (RM7.1 billion) in the first nine months of the year from a year ago, though US investments soared seven times to US$5.9 billion (RM24.6 billion) – reflecting a diversion of funds due to the Beijing-Washington trade clashes.
Data provided by the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) to Reuters showed that China, traditionally Malaysia’s biggest investor, has now slipped to third position behind the United States and Japan.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) from Japan, with whom Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad is trying to strengthen ties, jumped more than four times to RM11.81 billion in the January-September period.
Total approved FDI into Malaysia rose 6.5% to RM66.3 billion, Mida said, adding it was “actively negotiating” on 682 other projects with proposed investments of RM37.6 billion.
Trade hostilities between the world’s biggest two economies have pushed mostly US companies to look for factories outside China to escape tit-for-tat tariffs.
For Malaysia, the biggest investments have come in the electrical and electronics industry, with one of the driving factors being that many semiconductor and other electronics products from the country do not attract US tariffs, unlike the 25% rate for China.
US companies such as chipmaker Micron Technology and iPhone supplier Jabil Inc are already building new factories in Malaysia.
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24 July 2019
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Fiscal deficit down 39% to RM21.4 bil in Jan-May period
KUALA LUMPUR: The government has successfully cut its fiscal deficit by 39% to RM21.4 billion in the first five months of 2019, down from RM35.0 billion recorded in the same period last year, said Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng.
He said the government had also lowered its current account deficit to RM1.1 billion in the January-May 2019 period, a reduction of 94% or RM16 billion from the RM17.1 billion deficit in the same period last year.
“Fiscal discipline has been instituted through a combination of tighter controls over operating expenditure in the form of wider application of open competitive tenders, and the implementation of zero-based budgeting,” he said in a statement today.
He added that the open competitive tenders and zero-based budgeting had also pushed up the government’s development expenditure by 13% or RM2.4 billion year-on-year to RM20.3 billion in January-May 2019.
“The successful fiscal consolidation was among the reasons for Fitch Ratings’ affirmation of Malaysia’s sovereign credit rating at A- with a stable outlook on July 18, 2019, which follows similar confirmation by S&P global ratings on July 3, 2019.
“Nevertheless, the government is mindful of its subsidy bill, and will continue to manage its expenses prudently,” he said.
Lim said, as stated in the 2019 Budget, the government planned to spend RM259.9 billion for operational purposes this year.
The RM106.5 billion worth of operational spending for the January-May 2019 period represented 41% of the total budgeted 2019 operating expenditure, he said.
“Based on the current fiscal performance, the government is positive of achieving its fiscal deficit target of 3.4% of gross domestic product (GDP), while keeping its current account balance in surplus for 2019,” he said.
He added that if there was no trade war between China and the United States, two of Malaysia’s largest trade partners, the government could be confident of achieving the targeted 3% fiscal deficit of GDP for 2020.
Overall, Lim said the government was confident that the economy would expand sustainably this year and in 2020, and it was on track to fully restore the fiscal health by 2021.
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29 June 2019
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The International Trade and Industry Ministry recently launched its annual report for 2018, along with the Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC) Productivity Report 2018/2019.
Minister Datuk Darell Leiking, in his speech, had assertively touched on Malaysia’s economy, trade affairs, imports and exports, investment performance, industrial development, productivity and competitiveness.
The most notable announcement was Malaysia’s economic growth rate at 4.7 per cent with all sectors recording positive growth except for agriculture.
https://www.nst.com.my/opinion/columnists/2019/06/499997/ensuring-fair-deal-overworked-and-underpaid
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https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2019/06/496553/malaysias-gains-us-china-trade-war-are-temporary-warns-guan-eng…10 June 2019..https://twitter.com/malaymail/status/1137916811901620225KUALA LUMPUR, June 10 — Foreign investments increased 73.4 per cent to RM29.3 billion in the first quarter of the year from RM16.9 billion in the first quarter of 2018, the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) said today.Mida said domestic investments totalled RM24.6 billion, comprising 45.6 per cent of total investments of RM53.9 billion in the manufacturing, services, and primary sectors in Q1 this year. Total investments grew 3.1 per cent from the same period last year.“The positive investment growth of Q1 2019 was mainly driven by the robust performance of the manufacturing sector that soared by 126.8 per cent compared to Q1 2018,” MIDA said in a statement.The agency under the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti) added that the investments for the first quarter of the year were expected to generate more than 41,200 job opportunities, including 22,970 and 18,000 job opportunities in the manufacturing and services sectors respectively.The services sector attracted the largest share of investments in the first quarter of the year at RM26.1 billion, 69 per cent of which came from domestic sources.The five main sub-sectors that led the services sector with the highest total investment were real estate (RM11 billion or 42.3 per cent), distributive trade (RM8.2 billion or 31.6 per cent), utility (RM4 billion or 15.4 per cent), hotel and tourism (RM1.8 billion or 7.0 per cent) and support services (RM550.9 million or 2.1 per cent).According to Mida, the manufacturing sector recorded an “impressive” investment of RM25.4 billion in Q1 this year, up 126.8 per cent from the RM11.2 billion recorded in Q1 2018.“The manufacturing projects approved will create 22,970 new job opportunities. The jobs created include 1,590 electrical and electronics engineers, 710 mechanical engineers and 180 chemical engineers. In addition, the approved manufacturing projects will also require about 1,710 skilled craftsmen such as plant maintenance supervisors, tools and die, makers, machinists, IT personnel, quality controllers, electricians and welders.”Mida also noted that foreign investments in manufacturing projects increased by 127 per cent to RM20.2 billion in the first quarter of the year from RM8.9 billion in the same period last year.Mida highlighted two US projects from Micron Technology and Jabil Circuit that will be expanding their manufacturing operations in Penang, as well as Chinese investment from XSD International Paper that is expected to drive papermaking in the region with its proposed RM2.3 billion investment.A total of 150, or 70 per cent, of the manufacturing projects approved will be located in Selangor(75), Penang (41) and Johor (34). Penang will benefit the most from these investments at RM8.8 billion, followed by Kedah (RM7.6 billion) and Johor (RM2.4 billion).The primary sector contributed RM2.4 billion or 4.5 per cent of total investments in Q1 2019, 58.3 per cent of which came from domestic sources. Most of the investments were contributed from mining, dominated by oil and gas exploration activities.
“As to date, Mida has 471 projects in the pipeline with investments worth RM30.4 billion for the manufacturing and services sectors.”
…18 May 2019
Good news on 3 fronts as Malaysia celebrates Wesak, says Guan Eng
https://twitter.com/fmtoday/status/1129667537992527872PETALING JAYA: Malaysians can celebrate Wesak Day with good news on three economic fronts, said Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng.He said the economy grew by 4.5% in the first quarter of this year, which is above market expectations of 4.3% as compiled by Bloomberg.Coupled with this is the achievement of RM21.7 billion in realised foreign direct investments (FDI) in the first quarter — the highest level recorded in history for one quarter — and the highest number of tourist arrivals in two years.Lim said the 4.5% Q1 expansion in the economy showed its resilience in the face of uncertain external challenges caused by the trade war between the United States and China.He said realised FDI — actual foreign investments during the period — increased by 94.8% in the same quarter from a year ago.“This indicates the strength of the economy and the rising confidence foreign investors have in Malaysia and its government,” he said in a statement today.“The RM21.7 billion realised FDI in the first quarter of 2019 is the highest level ever recorded in Malaysian history for one quarter.“These new investments will raise the economy’s growth potential and create additional jobs for Malaysians in the near future.”He said the record high FDI mainly came from Japan, which contributed RM8.4 billion, followed by Austria (RM3.7 billion) and Hong Kong (RM2.8 billion).The government hoped the domestic private sector will emulate the same confidence exhibited by the foreign investors, he said.Current account surplus in the quarter rose to RM16.4 billion, or 4.7% of gross national income (GNI), from 3.0% in the previous period, and will remain in surplus in the foreseeable future.Lim also said 6,696,000 tourists visited Malaysia in Q1, the largest since the fourth quarter of 2016.This was a 2.7% increase from a year ago when 6,520,000 tourists visited Malaysia, and a 3.9% increase when compared to the 2018 fourth quarter (6,446,000).https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2019/05/18/good-news-on-3-fronts-as-malaysia-celebrates-wesak-says-guan-eng/…The Ringgit in June 2019https://twitter.com/bernamadotcom/status/1137892246194278400
The ringgit continued its upward momentum against the greenback today, bucking the trend of regional peers due to Malaysia’s stable economic fundamentals.
..This was how low the Ringgit was against the US Dollar in January 2017
..1 December 2018https://twitter.com/staronline/status/1068706998944915456GEORGE TOWN: Malaysia recorded a 350% increase in foreign direct investments (FDI) within the first nine months of the year compared with the same period last year.Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, said FDI growth was “very evident” in the last five months and was encouraging for the economy and the country’s leadership.
“We recorded RM14bil in FDI in the first nine months of last year.”Within the same period this year, we recorded RM49bil in FDI, which is a huge amount.”We are hoping that the resurgence of Malaysia is reflected in the increase of FDI,” said Lim, who is also Air Putih assemblyman, during a press conference in Rifle Range here Saturday (Dec 1).Lim, who thanked investors for their confidence in the country, said this growth in FCI would also lead to increase in job opportunities for the people.Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/12/01/malaysia-records-350-percent-increase-in-fdi-this-year-in-first-nine-months/#DKCYI5rQbf3TrvzG.99…
weehingthong 