'Tumultuous' challenges for KL but buffers likely

Singapore

THE Malaysian economy is set to greet 2019 on the back foot, unlike the sunny start in 2018 as its "quixotic, yet well-meaning" regime grapples with the baggage of rising rates, trade shocks and risks of fiscal slippage.

It's going to be "tumultuous", said Lee Heng Guie, an economist and executive director with think tank Socio-Economic Research Centre (SERC). By that, he meant the ongoing domestic adjustments such as cautious consumer spending and rationalisation of public spending and rising external headwinds.