KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 17): The government is cognisant of the slowdown in the global economy, to which Minister in Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar said would definitely impact Malaysia — given the country’s reliance on services and manufacturing sectors.

Speaking after the launch of the third Malaysia Statistics Conference (MyStats), Wahid said given the said structure of Malaysia’s economy, the country has projected its GDP to moderate to a growth of between 4% and 5% next year.

"If you look at the third quarter (GDP), there was a strong performance from the manufacturing sector — particularly the electrical and electronic (E&E) subsector. We hope that would continue to drive the economy forward. We also have a series of infrastructure projects that will help sustain growth in 2016," he told reporters after the conference.

On the domestic front, Abdul Wahid said it is important for the government to monitor the consumer sentiment and revive it, as the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER) said it is at an all-time low of 70.2 points, as at the third quarter of this year.

"We need to actually come up with measures to revive the sentiment," he added.

The MIER said the consumer sentiment index fell to a new low in the third quarter due to deteriorating current income, trepidation over soaring prices, and a yawning job outlook.