bengaluru feb 9 reuters  malaysias economy likely bounced back to growth in the final quarter of 2021 propelled by strong exports and private investments but the fastspreading omicron coronavirus variant poses a threat to the outlook a reuters poll found growth in southeast asias thirdlargest economy rebounded last quarter to 33 yearonyear after shrinking 45 in the julyseptember period according to the median forecast of 20 economists polled feb 38 forecasts for the change in gross domestic product gdp due to be released on feb 11 ranged from 15 to 63 highlighting uncertainty over the pandemics impact on output and activity q4 2021s economic recovery reflected relaxation of virus containment measures as malaysia made further progress towards economic normalization noted chua han teng an economist at dbs group research looser virus curbs not only benefited private consumption and services activity but also aided manufacturing activity and exports which played catchup in fulfilling order backlogs caused by the lockdowns in q3 2021 malaysias exports and industrial production rose strongly in december from a year earlier suggesting a sharp recovery in economic activity the economy benefited from higher commodity prices and robust demand for semiconductors amid a global shortage of chips which power everything from cars to remote work equipment however a significant economic slowdown in china malaysias largest trading partner posed a major challenge to the resourcerich country bank negara malaysia bnm at its jan 20 meeting warned that risks to the outlook were tilted to the downside a reuters poll on the longerterm outlook for malaysia taken in midjanuary was relatively upbeat predicting 43 growth this quarter  with a 0766 forecast range  and 58 overall expansion in 2022 growth going forward will depend on how the pandemic progresses although the government gradually eased some restrictions the country is not free from the virus malaysia reported the highest daily figure in four months on saturday due to the highly transmissible omicron variant vincent loo senior economist at kaf investment bank said the economy was expected to gain pace over the coming quarters following encouraging progress in vaccinating the population the single biggest risk factor continues to emanate from the omicron wave that is now causing a spike in recent cases to more than 11000 per day though the bulk of these cases continue to remain in the mild or asymptomatic categories he added reporting by devayani sathyan polling by vivek mishra editing by ross finley and bernadette baum