By Ying Xian Wong
Malaysia aims to bring down its fiscal deficit to 3% of gross domestic product or lower in 10 years, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Thursday.
This is among the government’s medium-term targets to be achieved in 10 years, Anwar said in a speech.
Malaysia’s fiscal deficit for 2022 was 5.6% of GDP.
The other targets are for Malaysia to be among the world’s 30 largest economies, to rank in the top 12 on the Global Competitiveness Index, to raise the percentage of labor income to 45% of total income, for women’s participation rate in the labor force to reach 60%, to reach the top 25 on the Human Development Index and to place within the top 25 least corrupt nations on the Corruption Perceptions Index, he said.
Anwar also said Malaysia might see 6% economic growth if efforts and reforms are undertaken.
“If we are only satisfied with the current situation, the economy will continue to record growth between 4% to 5%. However, if we work hard and implement reforms, we can achieve 5.5%, and I believe it is not impossible for us to produce 6% growth, ” he added.
Malaysia’s government expects the country’s economic growth to moderate to about 4.5% in 2023 after an 8.7% expansion last year.
Write to Ying Xian Wong at [email protected]
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