Malaysia's government will outline its spending plans for next year on Friday — and analysts said the country may spend more than it had earlier intended to prop up the economy amid a damaging U.S.-China trade war.

The Southeast Asian country had a change in government in last year's general election — the first since its independence in 1957. The new government, led by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, had set out to rein in a debt pile of over 1 trillion Malaysian ringgit ($238.5 billion) that it said was left behind by the previous administration.

But uncertainties surrounding the trade war between the U.S. and China has dimmed Malaysia's economic growth outlook. Weaker growth typically lowers government revenue, while increasing the need for greater public spending to cushion an economic slowdown.

So, the Malaysian government may find it challenging to reduce its fiscal deficit — the shortfall in income compared to spending — from around 3.4% of gross domestic product this year to its target of 3% in 2020, Reuters reported, citing Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng.

Economists agreed that Malaysia could set aside that target for now. Several analysts cited a fiscal deficit of 3.1% to 3.2% to GDP as the level that allows the government to spend to boost growth, without abandoning financial discipline in a way that would alarm credit ratings agencies.

"Sticking to a 3% target for 2020 makes little sense as the global and domestic growth outlook has worsened significantly," analysts from Bank of America Merrill Lynch wrote in a Monday note.

"Despite its resilience so far, Malaysia's external sector remains exposed to a global downturn," they said. The analysts added that private consumption, which contributed to 90% of GDP growth over the last six quarters, also looks set to weaken in the coming months.

The Malaysian economy exceeded expectations by growing around 4.7% in the first half this year, but that's likely to slow down to below 4.5% for the remainder of 2019 and 4% in 2020, according to BofAML.