PUTRAJAYA: Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng expressed confidence that Malaysia’s economy will continue to grow in the first quarter of 2019, based on the 4.7 per cent growth recorded in the fourth quarter of 2018.
He described the country’s economy as “favourable” and on a strong trajectory to expand, despite it failing to meet the 4.8 per cent growth target set for the fourth quarter of 2018.
“With the world economy becoming more challenging now (due to various factors including) the trade war between China and the United States, our economic performance is still satisfactory given that other countries are also showing a decline in their economic growth.
“We have to look from a global context. In the global context, everyone is affected. If we look at Malaysia’s performance in securing the 4.7 per cent growth rate, we have done quite well. In fact, our economy did better in the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter (of 2018),” he told reporters after presenting a RM25 million cheque as additional allocations for two religious schools to Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik here today.
Bank Negara Malaysia Governor Datuk Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus had previously said that Malaysia’s economy expanded 4.7 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2018 based on resilient private sector activities and positive growth of net exports.
She said the services sector was supported by continued strength in consumer spending, particularly in the retail segment, while the manufacturing sector was driven by the electronics and electrical (E&E) and consumer related clusters.