Malaysia Human Development Report 2013 [UPDATED]

I attended the launch yesterday, which included commentary by the authors, led by YBhg Tan Sri Kamal Salih, and a very lengthy panel discussion.

You can download the full copy here.

This has been a looong time coming as publication was held up for a year. though I’m not a liberty for revealing why. In any case, if you want the very short version, this video explains everything in 2 minutes and 34 seconds:

UPDATE:

Due to bandwidth limitations (too many people have tried to download the report), the MHDR site has been overwhelmed. You can try this alternative link instead to download the report. Warning: it’s a massive 66MB file, so the download could take a while.

Ringgit Under Pressure? Markets Are Irrational

I was going to write about this last week, but it got put on the back burner by the suspension of the fuel subsidy (excerpt):

Ringgit down to four-and-half-year low

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit has fallen to a fresh multi-year low against the US dollar, as sentiment has been somewhat dented by Malaysia’s shrinking current account surplus and slower economic growth in the third quarter of 2014.

At 5pm yesterday, the ringgit was being traded at 3.3565 against the greenback – the weakest level since May 2010. The ringgit is the second-worst performer in the region after the Singapore dollar so far this year. Over the last two weeks, it had declined 2% against the greenback….

…Analysts said the narrowing current account surplus put Malaysia in a less favourable position compared with the other countries….

Bye-Bye Fuel Subsidies

The Government has had an outbreak of common sense (excerpt):

Hasan Malek: No more RON95 petrol, diesel subsidies from Dec 1

PUTRAJAYA: All subsidies for RON95 petrol and diesel will be stopped beginning Dec 1, said Datuk Hasan Malek.

The Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister, who announced this at a press conference here on Friday, said the retail prices for RON95 petrol and diesel will be fixed according to a managed float, similar to the mechanism dictating the RON97 petrol price.

Hasan said there would be an announcement at the end of each month to set the following month's fuel prices.

He said it would be determined based on a monthly average price….

There’s still the super-subsidy on diesel (for public transport and fishermen) and subsidies on natural gas (which are huge), but the latter has been starting to be phased out as well. The gas subsidy in particular has been prone to abuse, with businesses using gas cylinders intended for households.

In any case, we’re well rid of the dangerously complicated multi-income-tier subsidy idea that the government has been mulling over. With global oil prices so low – for November, it appears that consumers have actually been paying a small tax on petrol – there would have been no better time for this move to have been made. We had that opportunity once in 2009-2010, and missed the chance. I’m happy it wasn’t missed this time.

If global oil prices stay low, and this is the scenario market participants are looking at at least for the next couple of years, then well and good. If prices move back up, then the government will no longer have to bear the cost of subsidising petrol and diesel, and use the increase in revenue on something more important – like public transport for instance, or education, or *gasp* paying down debt.

Having said that, we’re still not home free. Prices going forward will still fall under the Automatic Pricing Mechanism, which means profit margins are guaranteed for distribution and retailing. Oil retailers in Malaysia have been used to competing on a non-price basis; that’s not necessarily the optimum for consumer welfare. The next step should be to free up the market, and let the oil companies compete on price. That should give back to consumers some of the welfare loss associated with being exposed to global oil price volatility, essentially sharing some of the risk with producers.

I know, I’m asking for the sky. Still, I’m pretty happy with the decision today. It’s been a very long journey over the last five years.

3Q2014 GDP: Momentum Slowing

I’m still torn. Last week’s GDP report was a little better than I thought, but might just be the best growth we’re going to see for a while (log annual and SAAR changes):

Note that while annual growth is holding up pretty well, quarterly growth in 3Q2014 is actually the weakest in nearly two years. There’s little in either the global or domestic economy to suggest that growth will get any better over the short term.

3Q2014 GDP Preview

I’m torn. Despite all the weak numbers over the past three months, all my forecasting models say real GDP growth will still be above 5%, and in most cases, above 6%, for 3Q2014 (log annual changes):

The IPI based forecast is probably the most bearish, and it still says we’ll be above 5% – my other models are far more bullish. The forecasts for 4Q2014 are weaker, but not unusually so. The generated forecasts for next year cluster a little above 5% growth, which is about right for the Malaysian economy.

BNM Watch: OPR Still On Hold

More or less as expected by just about everyone, yesterday’s MPC meeting has the OPR still on hold at 3.25% (excerpt):

Monetary Policy Statement

At the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting today, Bank Negara Malaysia decided to maintain the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) at 3.25 percent.