Malaysia Economy Peaked during 1st Quarter

Economy: Second half will be challenging, says RAM Malaysia’s economy has likely peaked during the first quarter and is likely to face growth challenges during the second half of the year. RAM Holdings group chief economist Dr Yeah Kim Leng said while the global economy is on the mend the recovery is still fragile. Malaysia's first-quarter GDP growth expanded by 10.1% from a year ago, its fastest pace in a decade, which indicated that the likelihood of a double dip in the economy has receded, thanks to the  strong domestic demand in the Chinese and Indian economies. He said the first quarter performance was due to a combination of factors including the stimulus packages which were rolled out by the government to pull Malaysia out of a recession brought about by one of the worst global crisis. (BT)