ECONOMY TO BE BETTER IN SECOND HALF, SAYS BANK GOVERNOR

KUALA LUMPUR, April 15 (Bernama) -- The effects of the fiscal stimulus and
supportive monetary environment will put the country's economy in a better
position in the second half of the year, Malaysia's Central Bank Governor Dr
Zeti Akhtar Aziz said Wednesday.

She said though the external economies were experiencing contraction, the
domestic economy was still growing.

"There is a need to sustain the domestic economy," she said.

The first quarter of this year was very much impacted by contractions in
external economies which have taken a toll on country's exports, she said.

"The effects of the (negative) global developments showed up in the first
and second quarters of the year. Our export numbers have shown that," she told
reporters after the launch of the Interbank Murabahah Master Agreement.

Asked whether there was a need to revise the gross domestic product (GDP),
she said: "Right now we have made assumptions that the second half will
stabilise and that the fiscal stimulus will be implemented.

"In the current environment our projection is more or less a flat growth
because of the contractions of the external environment and it is being offset
by domestic demand," she said.

To a question whether the economy will bottom up, Dr Zeti said: "It is not
clear yet and what is the direction of the global economy.

"We are seeing some stabilisation taking place. This is very encouraging but
we still have to wait and see because of the financial sector resolution in many
of the advanced countries which still need to take place before we see
stabilisation occurring," she added.
-- BERNAMA