Malaysia's Economy to Stay Vibrant in Q2, says Stats Dept

KUALA LUMPUR, June 26 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's economy is expected to remain vibrant in the second half of this year driven by strong domestic demand, says Statistics Department of Malaysia Chief Statistician Dr Abdul Rahman Hasan. He said the government's Economic Transformation Programme and Government Transformation Programme are expected to continue to be the main drivers of the domestic economy. "In the first quarter, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 4.7 per cent compared to the the same quarter last year," he told reporters after opening a seminar on the importance of business organisations responding to economic surveys here on Tuesday. He said the services sector is expected to remain the biggest contributor to the country's GDP, followed by the manufacturing sector. In the first quarter of this year, the services and manufacturing sectors contributed 54.2 per cent and about 20 per cent respectively to GDP, he said. Last year, the country's GDP grew 5.1 per cent to RM881 billion (US$275.48 billion) with the main contributors being the services, manufacturing, mining and quarrying, and construction sectors. The seminar, organised by the Federal Territory Statistics Department, is aimed at raising awareness among business organisations of the importance of responding to economic surveys, so as to enable the compilation of accurate and reliable data to support the nation's economic growth. -- BERNAMA