Malaysia will ride out COVID-19 storm better than others, says World Bank
The World Bank is confident of Malaysia’s fiscal resilience to withstand the onslaught of the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
(The Edge Markets) – World Bank Group lead economist Richard Record noted Malaysia’s diversified economic structure.
He commented that the country has a good balance between domestic and external demand, command in various sectors including manufacturing, services and commodities, a sound financial system and an effective public health response as well as proactive macroeconomic policy response to the crisis.
“I think there is a lot of evidence to suggest that Malaysia will ride out this storm better than many other economies around the world.
“That said, we do give a special focus on the vulnerable group in this report. We think one of the challenges that Malaysia has had is that the safety net covers a lot of people, but it doesn’t provide an awful lot of protection to them, just when they need it from this type of economic shock,” Record said at a virtual press conference today after the launch of World Bank’s Malaysia Economic Monitor – ‘Surviving the Storm’ report.
As Malaysia aspires to become a developed high-income economy, Record said that it is important for the government to put in place a social protection framework which can protect vulnerable groups, especially the B40 group, from any kind of shocks, be it a pandemic or any economic crisis in the future.
“So in that sense, I suppose this crisis provides an opportunity [for the government] to think about some of these reforms that would help ensure Malaysia would be even more resilient in the future,” he added.
