Government Focuses On Policy Adjustments To Address Cost Pressures, Global Supply Crisis
KUALA LUMPUR, April 21 (Bernama) -- The government is focusing on policy adjustments to manage cost pressures while simultaneously ensuring the supply of basic necessities needed to address the impact of the global supply crisis.
Economy Minister Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir said the situation in the Strait of Hormuz has not yet shown a convincing resolution, despite certain diplomatic developments.
"The issue is not only whether the physical supply is disrupted or not, but also involves risk premiums, insurance costs, logistics, delivery delays, and disruptions to the global supply chain.
"What we are facing now is no longer a short-term shock. This is not just an issue of oil prices, but has evolved into a global supply crisis affecting energy costs, logistics, raw materials, food, services and ultimately the daily lives of the people.
"In other words, we are now in a phase of prolonged stress management, no longer just the initial shock management phase," he said during the daily briefing on the global supply crisis.
Akmal Nasrullah said that if this uncertainty continues, its impact on energy costs and the global supply chain could take up to 18 months to stabilise, depending on geopolitical developments and the recovery of trade routes.
"It means that Malaysia is not exempt from global pressures coming from various angles," he said.
He also said that during the period from April 13 to 17, 2026, the average global spot price of Brent crude oil decreased by 11.6 per cent, from US$31.67 per barrel to US$17.85 per barrel.
"Although last week's highest price reached US$32.46 per barrel, it is still below the peak of US$44.46 recorded after the outbreak of the crisis in West Asia," he added.
Akmal also emphasised that the movement of world oil prices indicates that the crisis is not yet over and that pressure is expected to continue.
Touching on the country's economic performance, Akmal Nasrullah said several economic indicators in Malaysia still have a strong foundation despite the challenging global environment, with the FBM KLCI closing at 1,695.21 points on April 17, 2026, compared to 1,691.31 points the previous week.
"This represents a weekly increase of 3.9 points or 0.23 per cent, continuing the positive momentum since the end of March, and over the past six weeks, this index has risen by 0.29 per cent.
"This week, the index strengthened to the level of 1,702.30, indicating that investor confidence in the domestic economic fundamentals remains resilient, thereby offsetting the negative impact from the decline in global Brent oil prices," he noted.
Akmal Nasrullah said the preliminary gross domestic product (GDP) estimate indicates that the economy is expected to grow by 5.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2026, compared to 4.4 per cent in the same period last year.
This performance is in line with market analysts' expectations of between 5.1 and 5.6 per cent, and is expected to surpass several regional economies, such as Singapore at 4.6 per cent and China at five per cent.
"However, these figures should not be interpreted as a sign that the pressure has passed. On the contrary, they show that the economy is still holding up in the face of external pressures that have not yet eased.
"Several indicators for March 2026 have yet to be finalised, and the full impact of this crisis typically reaches the economy with a lag through logistics costs, import prices, investment decisions, and consumer sentiment," said Akmal Nasrullah.
-- BERNAMA