KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia’s economic growth will slow compared to this year, Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz said in a statement on Wednesday.
Zafrul cited slowing global growth, rising commodity and food prices, U.S.-China tensions, and China’s strict COVID-19 containment measures as impacting supply chains .
Malaysia had earlier forecast its economy would grow between 5.3% and 6.3% this year, and the central bank said last month it could be at the upper end of that range.
Zafrul also said that growth in the fourth quarter of the year will be more challenging.
He reiterated that Malaysia has no plans to peg the ringgit currency to the US dollar if the value falls.
The Malaysian ringgit has fallen nearly 9% this year, hitting a 24 year low this week.
