Three years on, Malaysia’s growth buys time for PM Anwar as reforms drag

[KUALA LUMPUR] After spending much of his first term managing political survival from assembling Malaysia’s first unity government to steering delicate regional diplomacy as chair of Asean, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is turning back to domestic reform.

Three years on, however, his reform agenda appears to be moving at two very different speeds.

On the economic front, delivery has largely held up: Growth improved to 5.2 per cent in the third quarter of 2025 and foreign investment continues to flow in, particularly into the technology and data centre sectors. The ringgit has strengthened from its lows to become one of the best-performing Asian currencies.