This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on December 22, 2025 - December 28, 2025

Christmas week will be a busy one for former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak as the courts are set to deliver their decisions in two court cases involving him. On Monday, High Court judge Alice Loke will give her verdict on the issue of the “royal addendum”. In 2024, the Federal Territories’ Pardons Board slashed the ex-PM’s sentence meted out in the SRC International case to six years in prison and a reduced fine of RM50 million. The then Yang di-Pertuan Agong is said to have given an additional order independent of the Pardons Board, allowing Najib to serve the remainder of the updated sentence under house arrest. The issue at the heart of this court case is whether this additional order is legitimate and can be enforced.

In the second case, on Friday, presiding judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah will deliver his decision in the last ongoing criminal case against Najib pertaining to 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB). Najib is facing four charges of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering amounting to about RM2.2 billion, misappropriated from the state-owned strategic development company.

Sequerah, who is now an apex court judge, has presided over the trial that has stretched more than seven years. He ordered Najib to enter his defence in October last year. A total of 26 witnesses took the stand in his defence as his lawyers argued that the money transferred into his personal bank accounts were Middle East donations, that 1MDB was not Najib’s brainchild and that the company’s management had worked hand in glove with fugitive Low Taek Jho (Jho Low) to plunder 1MDB for personal gain, unbeknown to the former PM.

The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM) is scheduled to release a slew of data this week. On Monday, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for November 2025 and Big Data Analytics on Job Market Insights and My Job Profile for 4Q2024 will be made available. The next day, Malaysia’s Selected Agricultural Indicators in 2024, Malaysian Economics Indicators: Leading, Coincident and Lagging Indices for October 2025 and the 2024 report on Agriculture Census are scheduled for release.

On Wednesday, DoSM will release Malaysia’s 2024 Basic Amenities Survey Report and the 2025 International Migration Statistics. On Dec 26, the Malaysia External Trade Indices and Export Import Statistics by State, both for November 2025, will be out.

Bourses in most developed economies will close on Christmas Day, except Japan’s. The financial markets in the UK, Canada and most of Europe, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Australia will close for Boxing Day on Dec 26, but the US markets will remain open. Dec 24, being Christmas Eve, will be a holiday in the Philippines, while North Korea will observe Constitution Day on Dec 27.

On Dec 23, 3Q gross domestic product (GDP) for the US and its November industrial production is slated for release. Bloomberg estimates 3Q GDP at 3.3%, down quarter on quarter on a seasonally adjusted annual rate from 3.6% in 2Q. On the same day, its Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index for December will also be available, with Bloomberg estimating 52.0 from 51.0 in November.

In Singapore, the November CPI data will be released on Dec 23. UOB estimates inflation at 1% year on year from 1.2% y-o-y in October, with core CPI to remain at 1.2% y-o-y, the same as October. Industrial production is slated for release on Dec 26, with UOB estimating -23% month on month and -2.7% y-o-y, from 11.5% and 29.1% respectively in October.

China’s one-year and five-year loan prime rates will be available on Monday.

Taiwan’s November unemployment rate will be released on Dec 22, while its November export orders will be available on Dec 23 and its November industrial production on Dec 24.

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