KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 16): Minister of Economic Affairs Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali said the government will boost public investment activities during the current second-half period to support the country's economic growth.
"The government will take steps to intensify public investment activities as almost 60% of development allocation will be spent in the second half of 2019 to support the country's economic growth," he said in a statement today.
At the same time, he said Malaysia needs to take advantage of the US-China trade conflict by increasing exports of products impacted by tariffs imposed by the two economic power houses.
Azmin pointed out that the external economic environment is expected to be more challenging in the second half of 2019, as the trade tensions between US and China is seen to worsen.
"Malaysia needs to capitalize on this trade conflict by encouraging exports of products impacted by tariffs imposed by the US and China, such as substitutes for selected agricultural and electrical and electronic products," he said.
Azmin said the government, meanwhile, will also spur private investment as he noted that the growth in the country's gross domestic product (GDP) will continue to be driven by domestic demand.
Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) today announced that Malaysia's economy recorded a strong growth of 4.9% in the second quarter of 2019 (2Q19), supported by higher household spending and private investment.
Comparatively, the GDP growth in 1Q19 and 2Q18 were both at 4.5%.
Azmin said the strong growth was also driven by vibrant private consumption activities.
"The country's strong economic fundamentals and diversified economic structure that do not depend on any commodities, sector or export market, have also lent support to this growth," he added.