By Rafiqi Yusoff
KUALA LUMPUR, 1 February 2022: Prime Minister, Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob expressed the hope that government’s efforts to ensure economic stability and people’s wellbeing would be further improved in the Year of the Tiger this year and beyond, Bernama reported.
In conjunction with the Lunar New Year, he called on all Malaysians to stay united in supporting the government’s efforts to revive and restructure the economy to enable Malaysia to become a developed nation.
He said the reopening of over 90 economic sectors and most of the social activities, as well as the high vaccination rate among the entire population of the country, proved that Malaysia’s economy is on the right track for economic recovery.
With the momentum of recovery, the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is on a strong track to continue growing between 5.5 percent and 6.5 percent in 2022. It is also in line with IMF’s (International Monetary Fund) projection of 6.0 percent, and the World Bank’s projection of 5.8 percent.
“The growth will be driven mainly by the 2022 Budget which expands to RM332.1 billion, as well as the normalisation of economic and social activities.” He said this in a statement in conjunction with Chinese New Year on Tuesday.
The Prime Minister also said the resumption of projects with high multiplier effects and strong external demands, especially from major trading partners, had also boosted Malaysia’s economic growth.
“All these are in line with the government’s aspirations in the 12th Malaysia Plan to achieve the status of a high-income nation by 2025 through various initiatives,” he said.
While wishing Happy Chinese New Year to the Tionghua community, Ismail Sabri said after two years of celebrating separately and from a distance, it was hoped that this year’s celebration would enable the family members to bond together and strengthen their ties.
Nevertheless, he reminded everyone to stay vigilant and continue to comply with the standard operating procedures to curb the spread of COVID-19 during the celebrations.***
Source: Bernama