12/10/2012 (Bernama) - Malaysia's economic position will continue to depend largely on oil and crude palm oil (CPO) prices, exports and the political environment, said OCBC Bank (Malaysia) Bhd.

This is despite solid prospects on the back of the 5.1 per cent gross domestic product (GDP) achieved in the first half of this year.

Its Director and Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Chew Sun Teong said the worse case scenario for Malaysia would be, if all the said factors were to show a simultaneous negative trend.

"We are more concerned now compared with the situation in 2009, 2010 and 2011 as back then, even with the slowing down of the economy, it was cushioned by high palm oil and decent oil prices.

"Now, the CPO price has been slipping significantly and we have seen a slowing demand for local products, especially from China, India, Brazil and European countries," he told reporters after delivering his keynote address at the ACCA Malaysia Annual Conference 2012 here today.