Malaysian Government To Continue Introducing Initiatives To Further Diversify The Economy

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 7 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian government will be proactive in addressing current external headwinds and continue to introduce initiatives to further diversify the country's sources of growth. Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Abdul Rahman Dahlan said focus would be given to encourage domestic-oriented growth especially private consumption and investment. "Among the short-term strategies to increase the people’s disposable income and boost consumption include the reduction in interest rates, raising minimum wages, tax exemption on lifestyle-related expenses and higher 1Malaysia People's Aid (BR1M) payout to the targeted low-income group. "In terms of investment, the government is encouraging the private sector to diversify investment from upstream to downstream industries in agriculture and mining sectors to lessen their exposure to volatile commodity prices," he said. Abdul Rahman said support incentives would be given to companies which embark on greater automation in the manufacturing sector and transition to the production of complex products which have higher added-value. Furthermore, to counter the pressure from the moderation in external demand especially for commodity exports, focus would be given to increasing high value-added and knowledge-intensive services exports such as Islamic financial services, oil and gas services, private healthcare, private higher education, halal industries and professional services. Commenting on the overall economic situation, he said Malaysia was on a firm footing despite signs of moderation in the global economic growth and considering its diversified economy, Malaysia would be able to withstand the more challenging external environment. "In addition, an efficient macroeconomic management and prudent fiscal policy has ensured a resilient economy. "For the first nine months of this year, our gross domestic product rose by 4.2 per cent. This is comparable to the growth records of our major trading partners, who are also facing similar challenges and volatilities in the external environment," he said. On Malaysian Central Bank's new measures to promote a deeper, more transparent and well-functioning onshore foreign exchange market, he said this had a positive impact with the ringgit showing strength versus the US Dollar. --BERNAMA