Maybank IB: Election poses no threat to economy

KUALA LUMPUR: The upcoming general election will not likely pose a major shock on Malaysia’s economy, instead it will translate into continuity of current policies and investment inflows in status quo outcome.

Maybank Investment Bank Bhd (Maybank IB) regional head of economic research Suhaimi Ilias said in the bank’s baseline scenario, the ruling coalition would likely stay in power and ensure policy continuity, especially on the Malaysia-China relations.

“When you look at the landscape of China’s investment in Malaysia, it is very diverse. People tend to have this perception that Chinese investments in Malaysia are concentrated in infrastructure and property. Actually, that is wrong.

“The investment is diversified. We have China’s FDI (foreign direct investment) in banking and finance, education, manufacturing and the latest being Geely’s (Zhejiang Geely Holdings Group) stake acquisition in Proton,” he said when met at the recent Invest Asean Singapore 2018, organised by Maybank.

Maybank IB director and head of research for Malaysia equity markets Wong Chew Hann said the spin-off of the Geely-Proton deal could be great as the company was using Malaysia to penetrate the Asean market.

“Essentially, exports from Malaysia to the rest of Asean do not carry tariffs on a single market basis. We think that is the main reason why Geely came to Malaysia, apart from the infrastructure and support that Proton and the government are giving,” she added.