KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 14 (Bernama) — It is a great honour for me as the Minister of International Trade and Industry to be here at the tabling of Budget 2020, themed “Driving Growth and Equitable Outcomes Towards Shared Prosperity.”
We take note that the IMF in July 2019 projected world growth to slow down to 3.2% in 2019 compared to the previous estimate of 3.9% in July 2018. Meanwhile, the WTO in October 2019 has projected world trade to slow down to 1.2% in 2019. The current slow trade between the US and the rest of the world especially China is impacting global trade. Despite the lacklustre global trade performance, Malaysia has maintained positive trade balance in 2019 of RM92.5 billion between January to August, which is 29.8% higher than last year and is expected to maintain a trade surplus this year.