This expectation is in line with global economic slowdown amid persistent challenges including inflationary pressures, the Department of Statistics Malaysia said in a statement.
Three sectors namely construction, wholesale & retail trade and industry anticipate challenging business conditions in the second quarter.
The construction sector's business confidence remained negative, with the confidence indicator recorded at minus 26.9 percent in the reference quarter.
Meanwhile, wholesale & retail trade and Industry sectors turned pessimistic in the same quarter.
Respondents within the wholesale and retail trade sector expect a less favorable business outlook with a confidence indicator of minus 10.2 percent in the second quarter as against 4 percent in the last quarter, where both of the sub-sectors posted discouraging perceptions.
The industry sector also foresees a less favorable business situation in the second quarter as the confidence indicator recorded minus 2.1 percent as compared to 1.1 percent previously.
However, the services sector continues to be optimistic about the business performance with a confidence indicator of 3.9 percent for the corresponding quarter as compared to 11.4 percent in the first quarter.
It is also noted that in the next six months, namely April to September, the business outlook remained positive with a net balance of 14.9 percent from 12.1 percent recorded previously.
Latest comments