NAJIB EXPECTS SECOND-QUARTER ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE TO BE COMMENDABLE

PETALING JAYA Malaysia), Aug 18 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Najib Razak expects
the country's economic performance in the second quarter this year to be
commendable.

With disclosing details, Najib, who is also the Finance Minister, said the
government would announce the gross domestic product (GDP) figures Wednesday.

"If possible, I want to announce it tonight (Tuesday night) but cannot. We will
announce it tomorrow (WednesdaY)," he said at a breaking of fast gathering with
residents of Pangsapuri Perdana in Taman Sri Manja here Tuesday night.

"We will announce a growth rate that is commendable tomorrow (Wednesday)," he said.

Najib said an improved economic growth could also be seen based on the position
of the ringgit which had shown stability compared to other currencies in
Southeast Asia.

The ringgit closed firmer Tuesday at 3.1575/1605 against the US dollar compared
with Monday's close of 3.1790/1830.

In another development, the prime minister Tuesday chaired a four-hour meeting
on the New Economic Model (NEM) aimed at ensuring proper implementation of the
policy.

Najib said many new ideas resulted from the meeting and these would enable the
government to carry out more orderly planning to ensure that the NEM could
progress and was not just rhetoric.

"We will have more orderly and systematic planning for implementation. For this,
we hope the people will give their support so that all the plans could be
implemented and the objectives achieved," he said.

Najib said that if the country succeeded in achieving an annual GDP growth of
six per cent in the next 10 years, Malaysia could become a developed and high
income nation.

He said the Barisan Nasional (Natinal Front) leadership has master plans to
cover every matter and if given the chance to implement them, it will have a
major effect on the people and country.

"This shows the government's commitment in developing the country," he added.
-- BERNAMA



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