by BERNAMA / pic by BERNAMA

KUALA LUMPUR – MIDF Amanah Investment Bank (MIDF Research) has projected Malaysia’s economic growth to recover and grow by seven per cent in 2021.

It said the recovery will be supported by growing domestic demand, as consumers and businesses continue to increase their spending.

“For 2020, we maintain our growth forecast at -4.8 per cent, taking into account the stronger recovery in the third quarter of 2020 (Q3 2020) and the targeted Conditional Movement Control Order’s (CMCO) impact on Q4 2020’s growth,” it said in a research note today.

It said based on the latest economic indicators, economic activities had been recovering from the lows in Q2 2020, but there have been signs of weaker recovery in Q4 2020 due to the resurgence of COVID-19 cases.

MIDF Research said the sharp spike in COVID-19 infections locally saw the government imposing targeted CMCO in most states during the quarter.

“We view the current CMCO to be less stringent than the MCO in March-April 2020 because business activities have been allowed, according to the standard operating procedure.

“Nevertheless, we expect domestic spending activity to be somewhat constrained by the movement restrictions,” it added.