00:01World Bank's lead economist Apurva Sanghi on Tuesday said Malaysia's inflation is among
00:08the lowest in the region, but rising upstream cost pressures could pose an inflation risk
00:13later this year.
00:14He told the media that producer price inflation had swung from negative territory in December
00:202023 and February 2024 to over 10% in June and almost 11% in August this year.
00:28He said the World Bank projected headline inflation to rise modestly to 2% this year, with subsidies
00:35limiting the pass-through of inflation to households despite higher energy prices.
00:40He said Malaysia recorded a relatively low inflation rate of 1.9% in August, compared with Thailand
00:47at 2.5%, Indonesia 3.2%, Vietnam 4.9%, and the Philippines 6.1%.
00:55On economic growth, the World Bank upgraded its projection for Malaysia to 5.1%, followed
01:02by a 4.7% expansion in 2027.
01:05In fact, more than 70% of Malaysia's overall export growth in early 2026 is due to increased
01:14demand for AI-related products.
01:17So Malaysia really is riding the AI wave.
01:20It sounds good, but the corollary to this is that growth excluding AI-related goods has been
01:28weak.
01:29And this raises the question of how sensitive growth in Malaysia is to an AI slowdown.
01:33What if there is an AI slowdown?
01:36What might precipitate that?
01:37Aperva also said any development or slowdown in major economies, particularly the United
01:44States, will directly impact Malaysia.
01:54Aperva also said any development or slowdown in major economies, particularly the United States,
01:59will directly impact Malaysia.
01:59You
