Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Nor Yakcop hints at 2Q GDP being higher than 3.6%

KUALA LUMPUR: Minister in the Prime Minister's department Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop said a Bloomberg forecast of second quarter GDP of 3.6% was "on the low side".

He also said the first half of the year's GDP would appear lower due to the "base effect" in comparison to the same period last year.

This comes after a poll of 16 economists by Bloomberg estimated Malaysia's second quarter GDP growth rate at 3.6%, lower than first quarter growth of 4.6%.

"We will do very well in the second half," he said, partially due to the base effect and also due to government projects such as the ETP and privatisation "taking off in a big way".

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Aug 16 after witnessing the signing of an agreement between the East Coast Economic Region Development Council with Sirim Bhd and Agrobank, Nor Yakcop, who is in charge of the Economic Planning Unit said that the government still expected to hit the GDP target of 5-6% for 2011.

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