This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on August 17, 2026 - August 23, 2026

Political developments will be closely watched following the party congresses of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and its political ally Democratic Action Party (DAP) last weekend, which could have implications for the federal unity government.

At DAP’s national conference on Aug 16, delegates were expected to vote on whether the party would formally maintain its position in the unity government for the remainder of the current term or leave. PKR’s national congress was held on Aug 15 and 16.

The congresses come on the heels of three consecutive state election setbacks for the parties in Sabah, Johor and Negri Sembilan.

On the macroeconomic front, the key focus this week is July inflation and trade data, which will be released by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM) on Aug 17 and 20 respectively.

On Aug 21, Bank Negara Malaysia is scheduled to release its latest statement of assets and liabilities as at Aug 14.

DoSM has a slew of other data and reports out this week, including job market insights (Aug 18), manufacturing industrial capacity utilisation (Aug 19), labour productivity and socioeconomic indicators by state (Aug 20) — all for the second quarter of 2026 (2Q2026).

Over at the courts, the hearing continues on Aug 17 for: (1) the civil suit brought by 1Malaysia Development Bhd and three of its subsidiaries against former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Nazak and a number of former senior 1MDB staff; (2) the trial of FashionValet co-founders Datuk Fadzarudin Shah Anuar and Datin Vivy Sofinas Yusof in relation to criminal breach of trust charges involving RM8 million in FashionValet funds; and (3) the trial of former PM Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who faces seven charges of abuse of power and money laundering.

Indonesia will have an interest rate decision on Aug 19, and a day earlier will release June external debt data. A Bloomberg poll sees Bank Indonesia maintaining the key interest rate at 5.75%, as it did last month. The central bank had on June 18 raised the rate by 25 basis points (bps), its third rate hike in about a month, to support the rupiah and shore up 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.

In Singapore, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong will deliver his National Day Rally speech on Aug 23, which many consider to be the year’s most important political speech. “During the National Day message on Aug 8, PM Wong had made known that a ‘major review’ of how the government supports Singaporean families, not just at the point of marriage and parenthood, but throughout their life’s journey, is underway, and markets will pay attention to any new key policy announcements relating to this major review,” UOB Global Economics & Markets Research said in a weekly outlook report on Aug 14.

Thailand will release 2Q gross domestic product (GDP) data on July 17. In 1Q, the economy grew 2.8% year on year, but the expansion had not yet fully reflected the energy crisis that came about following the conflict in the Middle East. In May, the National Economic and Social Development Council had forecast that the country’s economy would expand between 1.5% and 2.5% for the full year.

South Korea will release the July Producer Price Index on Aug 21, and before that, household credit data for 2Q (Aug 19) and short-term external debt data for 2Q (Aug 20). Japan has a slew of key data out this week, including 2Q GDP and June industrial production (Aug 17), July trade and bond buying-and-selling statistics (Aug 20) and July national inflation (Aug 21).

The S&P Global manufacturing, services and composite Purchasing Managers’ Index for the US and Japan will be released on Aug 21.

China will put out July data for new-home and used-home prices, retail sales, industrial production, the surveyed jobless rate and property — all on Aug 17. The country will fix its latest loan prime rate on Aug 20. A Bloomberg poll anticipates that the one-year and five-year LPR will stay unchanged at 3% and 3.5% respectively.

Over in the US, there will be August National Association of Home Builders’ Housing Market Index on Aug 17, and July housing and building permits data, industrial production data, manufacturing production data and pending home sales on Aug 18.

The US Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee will release the minutes of its July 29 meeting on Aug 20. The UK will release its July Consumer Price Index on Aug 19.

South Korea’s stock market will be closed on Aug 17 in conjunction with the nation’s Liberation Day over the weekend, while Indonesia’s too will close that day for Independence Day. The Philippines will have a market holiday on Aug 21 for Ninoy Aquino Day.

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