ECONOMY Minister Rafizi Ramli said the expansion of the Malaysian economy by 3.3% in the third quarter (3Q) of 2023 from 2.9% in the second quarter of the year was a good sign. 

“I don’t want to comment too much about what to expect in 4Q (fourth quarter) 2023 because I really have to see what’s happening in October and the most data that we would have had by now is for October. So, it’s quite premature for me to comment on 4Q. 

“But we are hoping that we can keep up the momentum and if the quarter-on-quarter growth continues, if we see better year-on-year growth, the focus is to be able to hit the target of 4%, thereabouts,” he said at the Executive Digital Leadership Programme today. 

He believed it was most important right now for the government to make sure the momentum continued as there were certain things it could control, for instance, project delivery. 

“For example, what’s within the Ministry of Economy’s purview is to make sure that we improve project delivery, because if you can see from 3Q (performance), despite the drop in export and weak external demand, we are able to keep (growth) at 3.3% because of strong domestic demand.  

“That strong domestic demand is from private spending and also from government spending,” he said.  

Rafizi hoped to see further improvement in project delivery and speedy use of approved allocations within the stipulated cost and time to maintain public spending efficiency, which would translate into better growth in 4Q and next year. 

He said it was also important to manage inflation because private consumption could drive it up. 

“We have not seen that so far in our economy. Private spending continues to grow and continues to drive demand, but we have been able to lower inflation and keep it at 1.9% for September. 

“So, the laser focus on inflation is also important because the moment you start seeing an adverse impact on inflation, other considerations have to come in.  

“As a country, we are able to keep interest rate at 3%, which is among the lowest in this region and debt, obviously, also helps private consumption as well,” he said. – Bernama, November 17, 2023.