M'sian Government Confident Economy Will Grow This Year

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 19 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian government is confident that its economy will continue to grow in 2016 in line with the latest World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) projections, says Treasury Secretary-General Dr Mohd Irwan Siregar Abdullah. The Malaysian government is also continuing its commitment to fiscal consolidation through more efficient national revenue collection as well as optimising and restructuring public expenditure, he said. At the same time, the government will ensure these efforts do not affect its delivery services while continuing to support the nation's economic growth and safeguarding the people's interests by giving priority to people-centred projects and programmes, he said in a statement. He said the Fiscal Policy Committee (FPC) met on Monday to finetune modifications to Budget 2016 aimed at minimising the impact of rising prices, boosting consumer spending and investment, as well as improving the country's balance of payments. The FPC also took into consideration the challenging global economic situation and the continued fall in global crude oil prices, he added. The recalibrated Budget 2016 wil be announced on Jan 28 by Prime Minister Najib Razak. -- BERNAMA