International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted that Malaysia’s GDP for 2021 will be a positive 6.5 percent. World Bank says Malaysia’s GDP growth will be 6 percent. Our very own bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) says that our GDP growth for 2021 is between 6 – 7.5 percent. All are positive and encouraging predictions. This is a big rebound from negative 5.6 percent GDP growth in 2020.
6 or even 7 percent in GDP growth is however very low compared to this country. It has managed to keep COVID-19 under control and has just hit 18.3 percent in 1Q 2020. Let’s read a bit about them from one of the many media which reported it.
Article in nst.com.my China’s economy expanded at its fastest pace on record in 1Q 2021. National Bureau of Statistics spokeswoman Liu Aihua said, “The sharp spike was partly due to “incomparable factors such as the low base figure of last year and increase of working days due to staff staying put during the Lunar New Year” holiday.”
This growth is however slightly below forecasts in an AFP survey of economists. urban unemployment rate has dropped to 5.3 percent.
“The recovery remains uneven, with private consumption lagging given rising unemployment,” HSBC chief China economist Qu Hongbin said in a recent report.
Julian Evans-Pritchard, senior China economist at Capital Economics, said: “We expect quarter-on-quarter growth to remain modest during the rest of this year as the recent boom in construction and exports unwinds, pulling activity back towards trend.” Please do read the full articles with lots of other comments here. Article in nst.com.my
Yes, economic growth depends on the job market
The reason why the economy has to continue to stay open even with COVID-19 lurking around is because if it does not and businesses fail, then jobs will be lost and soon people without salaries, then the consumption drops and even more businesses will fail and the vicious cycle continues until the economy collapses and a financial crisis caused by COVID-19 happens. This is why HSBC economist mentioned unemployment as a major factor in his assessment in the article above.
Vigilance is needed and everyone must be compelled to follow or just get punished heavily
The mask must be worn at all times and that’s a must. Social distancing is needed and that is a must. It has got nothing, absolutely nothing to do with reasoning of, ‘but I did not see anyone nearby…’ or ‘I only took it down for a few seconds and forgotten about it.’ I have not gone back to my hometown for many months even if I learnt that there are now people giving lame excuses to get police permit to travel interstate. No valid reasons means no valid reasons, period. I really do hope we are as strict as some countries especially the one down south. Take care everyone.
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