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Fewer people out of jobs this year

THERE were 334 layoffs between January and March.

Second Finance Minister Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop said this was a marked improvement from 2007, when 4,400 lost their jobs.

Replying to a supplementary question from Alexander Nanta Linggi (BN-Kapit), Nor Mohamed said the low unemployment rate augured well for the government's efforts to sustain economic growth in the face of a "double swing" situation.

He said while Malaysia was projected to achieve between five and six per cent growth this year, it also faced inflation at 8 per cent, due to high crude oil and goods prices globally.

Earlier to a question from Alexander, Nor Mohamed said the rate of non-performing loans (NPL) has gone down to 2.7 per cent between January and June, from 3.2 per cent in December last year.

The total value of NPLs had also dropped from RM20 billion to RM17.7 billion.

"This is the best level we have achieved since the Asian financial crisis, when NPLs stood at 13.6 per cent on December 1998."

Nor Mohamed said the positive development was due to strong capital support and good risk management on the part of banks.