This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on July 20, 2026 - July 26, 2026

Politics will take centre stage this week as candidates for the Negeri Sembilan state election — to be held Aug 1 — begin campaigning in earnest following nomination day last Saturday.

It will be the country’s second state election this year following Johor’s on July 12, which saw Barisan Nasional sweep 48 of the 56 seats that were contested to retain power with an even larger majority.

On the macroeconomic front, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM) will put out June trade data on July 20.

In May, the country’s export growth rose to the highest in nearly three years, boosted by shipments of electronics and petroleum products as deliveries to the US nearly doubled. Exports surged 45% from a year earlier while imports rose at a more moderate pace of 14%. The trade surplus expanded to RM40.38 billion, a jump of 53 times on a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis and 38% month on month.

DoSM will also release the leading, coincident and lagging indices for May on July 24.

On July 22, Bank Negara Malaysia will disclose its latest international reserves data as at July 15. The central bank’s international reserves stood at US$132.6 billion (RM537.03 billion) as at June 30 — 0.9 times the total short-term external debt and sufficient to finance 4.7 months of imports of goods and services.

Over in the courts, the criminal breach of trust (CBT) trial of FashionValet Sdn Bhd co-founders Datin Vivy Yusof and husband Datuk Fadzarudin Shah Anuar is set to begin on July 20 at the Sessions Court.

The couple pleaded not guilty in December 2024 to a CBT charge involving RM8 million in investment funds from Khazanah Nasional Bhd and Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB). According to the charge, Vivy and Fadzarudin, who had been entrusted with the funds, allegedly transferred RM8 million from FashionValet’s account to 30 Maple Sdn Bhd without the approval of FashionValet’s board of directors.

The Sessions Court will also decide on July 20 whether Datin Seri Zizie Izette Abdul Samad is guilty of three charges of abetting her late husband, Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin, in connection with allegedly receiving RM2.8 million in bribes. Bung was charged, in his capacity as the then non-executive chairman of Felcra Bhd, with receiving the bribes from agents through Zizie. However, following his death in December last year, the prosecution dropped the case against him and he was given a posthumous acquittal.

Meanwhile, former Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng’s undersea tunnel graft trial will continue before judge Azura Alwi on July 23.

In the Philippines, the 59th Asean foreign ministers’ meeting will take place in Manila from July 21 to 24.

Also grabbing attention this week will be the 2026 Fifa World Cup final between Spain and Argentina in the wee hours of Monday.

Indonesia will have a monetary policy decision on July 22, against the backdrop of renewed escalation of tensions in the Middle East between the US and Iran.

“We expect the policy rate to be raised by 25 basis points (bps) to 6%, which would likely mark the final hike of this cycle, as the central bank seeks to support the currency and reinforce its commitment to financial stability,” DBS Group Research says in an outlook report released last week.

Bank Indonesia on June 18 raised the key interest rate by 25bps to 5.75%, its third rate hike in about a month, to support the rupiah and boost investor confidence. It raised the rate by a larger-than-expected 50bps on May 20 and 25bps on June 9, bringing total tightening to 100bps so far this year.

Singapore will release June consumer price index data, a gauge of inflation, on July 23.

Over in South Korea, there is the release of second-quarter gross domestic product data on July 23. Last Tuesday, the government upgraded its full-year economic growth forecast to 3%, from 2%, citing a semiconductor-driven export boom and stronger capital investment.

Japan’s stock market will close on July 20 for the Marine Day holiday.

It is a relatively quiet week in China on the data-release front. The country will fix its latest loan prime rate (LPR) on July 20. A Bloomberg poll anticipates that the one-year and five-year LPR will stay unchanged at 3% and 3.5% respectively.

The US, on the other hand, has a busy week ahead. Among the key data to be released are the June leading index (July 20), initial jobless claims (July 23), June new home sales and building permits (July 24).

Over in the UK, Andy Burnham is scheduled to be sworn in as prime minister on July 20, becoming the country’s 7th PM since the 2016 Brexit vote. The European Central Bank has a monetary policy decision on July 23 and it is widely expected to maintain its policy rates.

S&P Global will release its preliminary July Purchasing Managers’ Index readings for the US, the UK and Japan, providing a gauge of manufacturing and services activity as well as overall private-sector business conditions.

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