MALAYSIA'S FIRST QUARTER GDP EXPANDS 10.1 PCT, SAYS PM

PUTRAJAYA, May 13 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's economy expanded by a
superlative 10.1 per cent in the first quarter of this year, far better than the
4.4 per cent registered in the fourth quarter of 2009, Prime Minister Najib Tun
Razak announced Thursday.

He said the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) forecast for this year
was now revised to 6.0 per cent from an earlier estimate of between 4.5 per cent
and 5.5 per cent.

Najib said the first-quarter GDP growth was the highest registered in ten
years when compared with the 11.7 per cent registered in the first quarter of
2000.

In announcing the first-quarter GDP growth here today, the Prime Minister
attributed the encouraging performance to strong domestic demand in line with
global economic recovery.

Other regional economies and emerging economies also posted positive growth
growth such as China (11.9 per cent), South Korea (7.8 per cent) and Indonesia
(5.7 per cent).

-- BERNAMA