The rating agency said in a statement, while strong international trade is providing a sizable buffer for Malaysia's growth this year, domestic demand is looking much weaker.
"Lockdowns to manage the ongoing pandemic wave have now been in place for around three months. The deeper downturn has cut activity in the services sector and is resulting in sizable job losses: the unemployment rate jumped to 4.8 percent in June from 4.5 percent in May," it said.
It also noted that Malaysia now has a relatively high vaccination coverage, with about 52 percent of the population having received at least one dose, which will enable a gradual re-opening of the economy over the next several months.
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