Malaysia’s Surprise Growth Surge Spurs 2026 Forecast Upgrades

Malaysia’s much better-than-expected growth last quarter has prompted a flurry of analyst upgrades to their forecasts for this year, with some predicting the Southeast Asian nation will once again outperform official projections.

Maybank Investment Bank Bhd., MBSB Investment Bank Bhd. and RHB Bank Bhd. expect Malaysia’s gross domestic product growth will exceed the government’s 4% to 4.5% forecast for 2026, while CIMB Bank Bhd. and Oversea Chinese Banking Corp. raised their estimates to the upper end of the range. Kenanga Investment Bank Bhd. sees “upside potential toward 5.0% if current momentum holds.”