Malaysia confident of 6% GDP growth target

Sep 4, 2007 - Malaysia is confident of reaching its economic growth target of 6 per cent for this year, Second Finance Minister Nor Mohamed Yakcop said on Tuesday.

'We have the flexibility, in the context of any slowdown in the international environment. We have the flexibility to keep the momentum of growth in the economy,' he said.

Some economists have raised doubts about the government's target, citing weaker export demand, but strong domestic demand helped the country post better-than-expected growth in gross domestic product for the second quarter.

Last week, Malaysia reported second-quarter growth of 5.7 per cent from a year earlier.

Exports fall

Malaysian exports fell 0.02 per cent in July from a year ago, their second straight annual drop, on weaker global demand for electronics, official data showed on Tuesday.

Imports, about three-quarters of which are used to make exports, rose 2.5 per cent in July from a year earlier.

The trade surplus narrowed to RM7.98 billion (US$2.28 billion) in July from 9.04 billion ringgit a year earlier.