Weekly Round-Up; Stories That Caught Our Attention: Pappajack ACES It!, Minimum Wage? Not Now!, GDP Growth Projection By BNM
Pappajack, the First Pawnbroking Listing To Debut On The ACE Market
The licensed pawnbroking service provider made its debut on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad today at RM0.39, which is 30% above its IPO price of RM0.30.
The Group’s IPO shares allocated to the Malaysian public of 33.40 million new shares were oversubscribed by 21.73 times. To read the full story click here
Asia-Pacific Growth In 2022 To Be 5.1% And Malaysia 5.8%: S&P Global Ratings
S&P Global Ratings has projected Asia-Pacific economies to grow at 5.1% in 2022 with Malaysia’s growth rates to be at 5.8%.
It said that its expectation for robust 5.1% growth in 2022 tracks our view that Asia-Pacific’s COVID recovery is at an earlier stage than that playing out in the U.S. and Europe.
S&P Global Ratings has projected Asia-Pacific economies to grow at 5.1% in 2022 with Malaysia’s growth rates to be at 5.8%. To read the full story click here
Implementing Minimum Wage Comes At Inopportune Time: Economist
The implementation of the minimum wage of RM1,500 comes at an inopportune time of increasing business costs, worker shortages, and cautious consumer spending, an economist said.
Socio-Economic Research Centre (SERC) Executive Director Lee Heng Guie said that imposing additional labour costs on businesses could force impacted business owners to raise prices (consumer inflation) and reduce employment to preserve their business margin.” To read the full story click here
BNM Projects Growth To Be 5.3% To 6.3% For 2022
Bank Negara Malaysia has published its Annual Report 2021, Economic and Monetary Review 2021 and Financial Stability Review for Second Half 2021.
The AR 2021 sets out the initiatives and workings of the Bank in 2021 in fulfilling its mandates to promote monetary stability and financial stability conducive to the sustainable growth of the Malaysian economy. This includes the means by which BNM discharged its mandates to support Malaysia’s transition through and out of the pandemic, as well as other challenges such as the floods. AR 2021 also provides an account of the Bank’s operations and resources that enable it to function effectively and efficiently. To read the full story click here
Soaring Inflation Heightens the Recession Risk in EU Amid Sanctions Against Russia
Sanctions imposed on Russia have pushed energy prices to record highs across the continent, hurting business and consumer confidence and increasing the risk of another recession, even before some states have recovered from the pandemic-induced downturn. The European economy is feeling the threat of economic downturn from Russia’s war in Ukraine as growth stalls, confidence plummets and inflation soars, data and warnings from policymakers made clear on Wednesday.
Germany will be among the hardest hit and the government’s council of economic advisers have lowered their growth forecast for this year to 1.8%, which is more than half, on Wednesday. The country is the biggest economy within the bloc and one of the most reliant on Russian energy. To read the full story click here