Malaysia’s Q3 GDP growth rate among the highest in Asia
PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia’s economic growth during the third quarter of this year is among the fastest in the Asian region, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan yesterday.
He said this put Malaysia ahead of countries like Singapore, Indonesia, South Korea and Taiwan in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) growth.
“It’s also faster than developed economies such as the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom,” he said in a statement yesterday.
According to Bank Negara Malaysia, the country’s economy grew at a faster pace of 6.2 per cent in the third quarter of this year compared with 4.3 per cent in the same quarter last year.
“This is also the fastest quarterly growth since the second quarter of 2014.
“The stronger pace of growth was propelled by both sustained domestic demand and improved external sector.
“Higher economic activities in the services, manufacturing and agriculture sectors were the key engines that drove the economy in the third quarter.”
Rahman said unsurprisingly, private consumption registered its strongest performance since 2015 by recording a 7.2 per cent growth.
“This clearly shows that consumer confidence is rising as Malaysians are more comfortable to spend their money as their income increases and they expect higher income in the future.
“I am particularly delighted that the gross fixed capital formation or investments growth remained steady at 6.7 per cent as private sector investments were sustained and government’s investments rebounded in this quarter.”
He said the RM46 billion development budget announced in the 2018 Budget that included a slew of mega infrastructure projects would support the economy and create more jobs for Malaysians.
Rahman echoed the prime minister’s view that Malaysia was on the right economic track.
“We are indeed on the right track and this has been validated by the global agencies such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, which have revised our GDP growth more than two times this year.
“The strong economic performance is all for nothing if it doesn’t benefit Malaysians.
“Solid economic growth will sustain the creation of more jobs, increase the people’s income and improve their wellbeing and quality of life.
“The government, under the leadership of the prime minister, will keep working to bring development and economic growth to the people.”