KUALA LUMPUR – Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin expects the country’s economic situation to improve this year, in line with the government’s measures and recovery of economic activity and world trade, despite the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said Malaysia is on the right track in economic planning and management towards stronger and sustainable growth, and it is beginning to show a positive impact.
“We are already seeing results from our plans. Maybe Covid-19 hasn’t been resolved yet, but our economy is already showing signs of improvement.
“Our exports are increasing, our imports are increasing, (and) the number of workers employed has reached 150,000, much higher than the scheduled 120,000.
“The projections of international bodies, our experts and Bank Negara Malaysia... we will see a growth of 6.5% to 7.0% this year.
“It takes four to seven months to see its achievement,” he said in an exclusive interview on RTM and Bernama TV tonight.
Muhyiddin said the government has sought to balance between the need for economic growth and importance of public health during the third movement control order (MCO 3.0), similar to that of MCO 2.0, where the impact on growth was expected to be less severe as most economic sectors were still allowed to operate.
“We started early, just like last year. Our move in enforcing the MCO by not closing everything is because we’re thinking ahead.
“Come to think of it today, we should have closed everything, but we need to take care of the lives and future of the people, their income and their work.”
The prime minister also commented on the huge expenditure incurred in battling Covid-19.
“Sometimes, the rakyat forget, but this is one of the biggest packages in the history of the country.”
He said the implementation of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme will lift sentiment and contribute towards the recovery of economic activity.
“By the end of this year, we are targeting… to achieve 80% herd immunity. We hope with (vaccine) protection, the economy will recover, and we hope 2022 will be better.”
Commenting on the badly-hit tourism sector, Muhyiddin said the industry will take three to four years to recover, adding that there are government initiatives to rebuild the sector.
He said the government has started negotiations to grant entry to Asean and Chinese tourists through a green lane when the situation permits, as well as help the creative industry to invigorate the tourism sector. – Bernama, May 23, 2021
