KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 19): RHB Research Institute Sdn Bhd said it views the new targets set by the government as being more realistic, especially in the current challenging external environment and fiscal transition.

In an economic update today, the research house said the government’s gross domestic product (GDP) target is revised lower to 4.5-5.5%.

It added that most macro targets were mostly revised lower, as they were not achieved during 2016-2017.

“This is broadly in line with RHB’s forecast of 4.8-5.2% for the same period.

“We think the reduced growth target is more realistic as we enter the late stage of the global growth cycle and uncertainty is rising amid the escalation of US-China trade war and monetary policy tightening by major economies,” it said.

RHB Research said the government’s fiscal deficit target is set at 3% of GDP in 2020, pointing to a potentially higher fiscal deficit target for 2019.