Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus: Navigating Malaysia's economic transition, in a post-COVID world

Feature address by Ms Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus, Governor of the Central Bank of Malaysia (Bank Negara Malaysia), at the Khazanah Megatrends Forum 2022, Kuala Lumpur, 3 October 2022.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

1. A very good afternoon to all of you. I would like to thank Khazanah for inviting me to speak. This morning, I will be pleased to share with you what we in Bank Negara Malaysia are seeing in the economy today, and what we believe is needed to secure our future.

2. For a good part of the past three years, the world has been grappling with managing not only a health crisis, but an economic crisis. Actions were taken to protect both lives and support people's livelihoods. Following the warp speed effort to vaccinate the country last year, containment measures were soon lifted and borders reopened. Today, the economy is no longer in a crisis, and Malaysia's economic recovery is well underway. A number of key indicators support this.

3. First, the Malaysian economy is showing positive growth momentum. This year, growth is expected to be strong. The reopening of international borders has and continues to lift tourism-related sectors. This will have significant spillovers to the rest of the economy given the importance of the services subsectors. Also, investment activity and prospects continue to be supported by the realisation of multi-year projects. Similarly, Malaysia's exports have been recording double digit growth since the start of 2021 and the order books of our exporters remain healthy. These positive developments will continue to provide support for growth in 2023.

4. Second, the labour market has also shown strength. Wages in both the manufacturing and services sectors have been increasing since the start of the year, at around 5% and 7%, respectively. Unemployment is now less than 4% and income prospects remain positive.