KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today said Malaysia will have to embrace the uncertainty of the world economy this year.
When tabling the 2023 Budget, the premier said the inflation rates would continue to depress due to world commodity prices that are still high and disruption of the food supply chain due to the Russian-Ukrainian war.
"The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected a moderate 2023 world economic growth at 2.9 percent compared to 3.4 percent last year.
"The trade sector globally is also projected to slow at a rate of 2.4 per cent compared to 5.4 per cent last year.
"Our GDP last year recorded growth of 8.7 percent due to a low base in 2021, following the impact of Covid-19.
"To give a full picture of the country's economic performance, it should be seen together with the quarter-on-quarter growth that has been reducing from 3.8 percent (first quarter) to 3.5 (second quarter), 1.9 (third quarter) and -2.9 (fourth quarter) last year."