Malaysia's Finance Minister Zafrul says economy on track, has room to raise rates

Malaysia’s economy is growing strongly thanks to the rise in commodity prices and central bankers “still have room” to tighten monetary policy to tackle accelerating inflation if needed, according to Finance Minister Zafrul Aziz.

The economy gained speed in the first quarter of this year, as the country dropped most virus restrictions. That allowed the central bank room to raise borrowing costs this month to preemptively fight inflation, even though consumer prices are gaining at the slowest rate in Southeast Asia.