KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's economic growth, projected at 5.8 per cent in the second quarter of this year, is set to exceed estimates, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim yesterday.
"I am pleased to note that the advanced release for Malaysia's second quarter GDP, which measures our economic value, looks set to grow beyond all estimates.
"The Statistics Department of Malaysia (DOSM) has forecast our economy expanded 5.8 per cent in the second quarter of 2024. This is the highest growth Malaysia has seen since December 2022, and it is a marked improvement over the 4.2 per cent GDP from the first quarter of this year," he said in a post in Facebook.
Anwar said he believed the hard work of the Madani Government was starting to manifest itself in real-world ways.
He said the Ekonomi Madani – and its major policy levers, such as the New Industrial Master Plan and New Energy Transition Roadmap – developed and introduced last year, coupled with recent initiatives such as the introduction of our National Semiconductor Strategy, have been essential in attracting multi-billion dollar investments from the world's global technology leaders.
"These investment pledges are becoming real, shovels-in-the-ground projects that will provide new opportunities for our manufacturing industry overall, and particularly, our electrical and electronics sector, to advance rapidly into higher value output. Consequently, these new projects will also provide new opportunities for higher paying jobs for more Malaysians," he said.
"I believe we are just at the start of a sustainable, long term economic advancement. Yet, while these numbers are encouraging, and we should indeed take positive note of them, I am conscious too many Malaysians may still confront economic challenges," he added.
Anwar said it is the goal of the Madani Government to positively transform Malaysia for everyone, regardless of race, religion, or station in life.
"Better opportunities for better jobs, paying better salaries, enabling Malaysians better chances at having the means to not only meet today's cost of living but to be able to have the means to achieve his or her dreams. This is my dream for every member of the Rakyat," Anwar said.
"So, we take note of today's encouraging news, and we are fueled by it, and inspired from it, to double down. To continue making the hard choices that had been left untouched for too long. To accelerate the transformation we know our country needs and that the changes – indeed, the hopes and dreams – that millions of Malaysians yearned for, are made manifest," he said in his post. - BERNAMA