Economy
Despite the slump in various business sectors, the government is expecting the economy to grow at around 4.6% in 1Q09 on the back of higher government spending and economic impact of recent legislative election. As predicted by many, domestic economy this year will be largely supported by government expenditure on massive infrastructure projects and election, amid lack of growth in international trade, investment and consumer spending.
Office
The impact of global economic crisis on the corporate sector has become more apparent. In view of intense pressure for cost efficiency and business uncertainty arising from the crisis, a lot of companies have reportedly rescheduled or scaled-back their expansion plans, leading to a drop in office enquiry over the last three months.
Retail
The retail market continued to face a challenging period as demand continued to falter. Slow recovery in consumer purchasing power was aggravated by the global economic crisis which now hampered retailer expansion as well.
Residential
Buyers and investors interest for condominium continued to slacken indicated by further decline in sales. The drastic benchmark interest rate cut by Central Bank has not been immediately translated to housing loan interest rate cut. This impacted both end-users and investors’ appetite to purchase residential units during this period.
(Jones Lang Lasalle)
