*Article by Azalea Azuar, published in The Malaysian Reserve covering our recent Food Security Webinar Malaysia needs to make the agriculture sector more attractive among youths in order to reduce reliance on foreign workers and to safeguard the nation’s food security. Statistics from the Muda Agricultural Development Authority revealed that the average age of paddy farmers in Malaysia is 60 years, while only 15% of the Farmers Organisation Authority are below 40 years old. T

By Benedict Weerasena When I was young, I thoroughly enjoyed a bowl of Alphabet soup. The delight in choosing which letters to eat first thrilled me, much more than the taste of the soup itself. Little did I know that this thrill of choosing letters would mean much more to me now as an Economist, trying to figure out which letters portray our economic recovery today. In past economic crises and recessions on the international level, there have been several recovery shapes, in

As of March 24th 2020, there are already over 384,000 cases of Coronavirus worldwide, with 16,591 deaths. Though over 102,000 have recovered globally, this pandemic is not showing any signs of slowing down. *Total Confirmed Cases of Covid-19 per million Picture Source: Our World in Data What was initially viewed as a ‘Chinese problem,’ and then an ‘Italian-Iranian-Korean problem’ has nightmarishly evolved into an ‘everybody problem’. In fact, the virus continues to spread in

A think tank today predicted cuts in the budget for 2020 when it is tabled in Parliament next month, following the forecast by Moody’s Investors Service of a slowdown in economic growth for the next two years. The international rating agency in April reduced its 2019 gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for Malaysia from 4.7% to 4.4% and Malaysia’s real GDP growth for 2020 from 4.5% to 4.3%. Bipartisan Budget 2020 Roundtable Talks Event Poster “This would mean that we

The Bipartisan Budget 2020 Roundtable Dialogue with the Theme “United We Tack to Avoid Potential Recession” was successfully held on the 12thof September 2019. Held at Tunku Abdul Rahman University College, this Roundtable Dialogue was jointly organized by Institute for Strategic Analysis and Policy Research (INSAP) and Bait Al-Amanah (House of Trust). Seeking to give voice to all Malaysians via focused stakeholder engagements, the Roundtable Dialogue was attended by represen

Jabatan Perangkaan Malaysia telah melaporkan Prestasi Ekonomi Malaysia suku tahun pertama 2019 pada 16 Mei 2019. Secara keseluruhannya, Ekonomi Malaysia (KDNK) merekodkan pertumbuhan 4.5%, menurun sedikit daripada 4.7% untuk Q4 tahun 2018. Dengan itu, Indeks Pelopor menjangkakan ekonomi akan bertumbuh pada kadar yang lebih perlahan untuk Q219. Lantaran, Bank Negara Malaysia menjangka Ekonomi Malaysia akan berkembang antara 4.3-4.8% untuk tahun 2019. Beberapa penemuan menarik

Prosperity. Sustainability. Security. All rely on global economic cooperation, so how can we can we shape a more equitable and collaborative global architecture? IMF head Christina Lagarde is chairing this panel. She kicks off by saying: “It’s very easy to be lost in the headlines … but what we really want to do … is not focus on the headlines. So I’m not going to give you the economic outlook,” she says. “We’re going to really focus on risks, opportunities, that are out ther

On 18th December 2018, the latest edition of World Bank’s Malaysian Economic Monitor on ‘Realising Human Potential’ was launched at Sasana Kijang, Bank Negara Malaysia. The monthly Malaysia Economic Monitor (MEM) presents a review of the recent economic developments and the macroeconomic outlook for the country. Several interesting findings of this report include: i) Growing risks on the global front including rising concerns regarding the impact of US-China trade tensions, i

At the recent International Conference on Politics and International Studies (ICPIS) 2018 held at the Centre for Postgraduate Studies Auditorium, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Benedict Weerasena, Bait Al-Amanah’s economist presented a research paper entitled ‘The Impact of US-China Trade War: How will Malaysia’s Economy Fare?’ This conference was organised by the Centre for the Promotion of Knowledge and Language (PPIB) in collaboration with the International Relations Programme

Summary of YB Lim Guan Eng’s Luncheon Address at Khazanah Megatrends Forum 2018 At Khazanah Megatrends Forum 2018 held on the 8thand 9thof October 2018 at Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur, YB Lim Guan Eng gave a speech during the Luncheon Address. He started off by expounding on the Malaysia’s current macroeconomic and fiscal status, stating that the ringgit has been one of the best performing Emerging Market currencies. Although the country’s public finances is not doing too w