It is the time of the year when New Year resolutions are made, only to be broken. It is also the time for reflection on what has gone on in the past year. And, it is the time to make predictions on what 2016 holds for the economy. “Prediction is very difficult, especially if it’s about the future,” so confessed Nils Bohr, a Nobel laureate in Physics. But, predict we should, lest we fail to take precautions to stall any prospective ills that might befall our economy. As Oscar Wilde, an Irish novelist, once declared, “To expect the unexpected shows a thoroughly modern intellect”. The past, crucial to understanding the present, should serve as a crystal ball to help us foresee what 2016 has in store for us. First, the economy. Malaysia depends on commodities to bring in a quarter of its revenues from exports. While palm oil prices are steadier on account of reduced production from the drier weather induced by the El Nino weather pattern and the depreciated ringgit, prices of crude oil are doing badly these days. They hit their lows of roughly US$36 (RM155) — the lowest in 11 years — amid Opec’s (Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) disarray and limp demand, in part, due to the unusually mild weather in the northern hemisphere. Compounding these price-depressing forces is the potential flood of Iranian oil exports of half-a-million barrels per day when sanctions against it are lifted this year.
Read More : http://www.nst.com.my/news/2015/12/119824/predictions-2016-economy