Aspirations Unfulfilled : Malaysia's Cost of Living Challenges
Despite Malaysia’s low and stable inflation rate, there has been an ongoing debate regarding perceived increases in the cost of living in the country. The concerns are frequently expressed in public policy discussions, the mass media, and private...
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World Bank, Malaysia
2020
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/175101597160321052/Aspirations-Unfulfilled-Malaysias-Cost-of-Living-Challenges http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34331 |
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okr-10986-343312021-09-21T13:08:03Z Aspirations Unfulfilled : Malaysia's Cost of Living Challenges World Bank COST OF LIVING INFLATION CONSUMER PRICE INDEX LIVING STANDARDS POVERTY HOUSEHOLD DEBT BANKRUPTCY WELL-BEING FINANCIAL LITERACY HOUSING AFFORDABILITY Despite Malaysia’s low and stable inflation rate, there has been an ongoing debate regarding perceived increases in the cost of living in the country. The concerns are frequently expressed in public policy discussions, the mass media, and private conversation. The issue has featured prominently in public and private discourse for years, dating back at least to the rationalization of the fuel subsidy in December 2014 and the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax in April 2015. More recently, there has been a robust public debate about whether Malaysia should raise the nationally defined poverty line. These concerns have emerged during a period of low inflation; the average annual headline inflation rate stood at less than 2 percent beginning in January 2015 and has declined to less than 1 percent since January 2018, well below the growth rates of the economy and average nominal incomes. In this context, the “cost of living” is frequently used as a catchall term that may reflect wider developments in the economy and the associated impacts on household budgets and well-being. While the discussion is usually framed as an issue of the rising costs of goods and services, the core issues for most Malaysians extend beyond prices. These include lagging income growth and greater indebtedness that results in less disposable income and inadequate financial savings. In addition, rising home prices also feed into the concerns of many Malaysians about housing affordability and the cost of living. 2020-08-11T19:27:00Z 2020-08-11T19:27:00Z 2020-06 Report http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/175101597160321052/Aspirations-Unfulfilled-Malaysias-Cost-of-Living-Challenges http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34331 English Malaysia Development Experience Series; CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Malaysia Economic & Sector Work Economic & Sector Work :: Other Poverty Study East Asia and Pacific Malaysia |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English |
| topic |
COST OF LIVING INFLATION CONSUMER PRICE INDEX LIVING STANDARDS POVERTY HOUSEHOLD DEBT BANKRUPTCY WELL-BEING FINANCIAL LITERACY HOUSING AFFORDABILITY |
| spellingShingle |
COST OF LIVING INFLATION CONSUMER PRICE INDEX LIVING STANDARDS POVERTY HOUSEHOLD DEBT BANKRUPTCY WELL-BEING FINANCIAL LITERACY HOUSING AFFORDABILITY World Bank Aspirations Unfulfilled : Malaysia's Cost of Living Challenges |
| geographic_facet |
East Asia and Pacific Malaysia |
| relation |
Malaysia Development Experience Series; |
| description |
Despite Malaysia’s low and stable
inflation rate, there has been an ongoing debate
regarding perceived increases in the cost of living in the
country. The concerns are frequently expressed in public
policy discussions, the mass media, and private
conversation. The issue has featured prominently in public
and private discourse for years, dating back at least to the
rationalization of the fuel subsidy in December 2014 and the
introduction of the Goods and Services Tax in April 2015.
More recently, there has been a robust public debate about
whether Malaysia should raise the nationally defined poverty
line. These concerns have emerged during a period of low
inflation; the average annual headline inflation rate stood
at less than 2 percent beginning in January 2015 and has
declined to less than 1 percent since January 2018, well
below the growth rates of the economy and average nominal
incomes. In this context, the “cost of living” is frequently
used as a catchall term that may reflect wider developments
in the economy and the associated impacts on household
budgets and well-being. While the discussion is usually
framed as an issue of the rising costs of goods and
services, the core issues for most Malaysians extend beyond
prices. These include lagging income growth and greater
indebtedness that results in less disposable income and
inadequate financial savings. In addition, rising home
prices also feed into the concerns of many Malaysians about
housing affordability and the cost of living. |
| format |
Report |
| author |
World Bank |
| author_facet |
World Bank |
| author_sort |
World Bank |
| title |
Aspirations Unfulfilled : Malaysia's Cost of Living Challenges |
| title_short |
Aspirations Unfulfilled : Malaysia's Cost of Living Challenges |
| title_full |
Aspirations Unfulfilled : Malaysia's Cost of Living Challenges |
| title_fullStr |
Aspirations Unfulfilled : Malaysia's Cost of Living Challenges |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Aspirations Unfulfilled : Malaysia's Cost of Living Challenges |
| title_sort |
aspirations unfulfilled : malaysia's cost of living challenges |
| publisher |
World Bank, Malaysia |
| publishDate |
2020 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/175101597160321052/Aspirations-Unfulfilled-Malaysias-Cost-of-Living-Challenges http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34331 |
| _version_ |
1764480675750084608 |