00:00On the economic front, Malaysians will bid farewell to 2025 with a huge sigh of relief.
00:07In a year when global uncertainty was intensifying, sending fears of economic
00:12repercussions for the country, somehow Malaysia avoided major shocks, economist Samirul Arif
00:18Othman said. Malaysia's economic story for 2025 may not have been one of exuberance,
00:24but neither was it one of distress. The adjunct lecturer at University of Technology Petronas
00:29told FMT. He said that 2025 was a year defined by steadiness, a quality often undervalued in public
00:37debate, but highly prized by households, investors, and policy makers alike. Samirul said the economy's
00:45performance should be understood not through headline growth figures alone, but through how
00:50ordinary Malaysians experienced daily life, from savings returns and job security to prices and
00:56borrowing costs. One such signal, Samirul noted, was the Amanah Saham Bumi Pucha dividend where ASB
01:03declared a payout of 5.75 cents per unit in 2025, amounting to more than 10 billion ringgit distributed
01:11to unit holders. He argued that for households relying on ASB for retirement and long-term savings,
01:17predictability was itself a form of economic security. Beyond what the public could see,
01:23Samirul also pointed to sustained investment flows as one of the most important anchors of growth,
01:29as Malaysia continued to attract commitments in semiconductors, data centers, digital
01:34infrastructure, and energy transition projects. According to Samirul, Malaysia's key achievement
01:40in 2025 was avoiding unforced errors at a time when many economies were struggling with policy
01:46volatility and investor flight. Natasha Beast, FMT.
