KUCHING, March 24: Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy) Mohd Rafizi Ramli has revealed that based on current economic achievements, Malaysia is estimated to reach the status of a high income country by 2026.
He said that this could only be achieved if the growth rate remains at a rate of 4 per cent to 5 per cent for the next three years.
“However, the World Bank estimates that Malaysia will reach that status between 2024 and 2028,” he disclosed further.
He added that the government will focus on three main things, namely implementing economic structural reforms, identifying new sources of growth and strengthening the country’s fiscal position.
“The government is committed in its efforts to implement economic structural reforms towards a higher value chain to strengthen the growth and to increase productivity in all sectors.
“In addition, emphasis will be given to new sources of growth from strategic and high-impact sectors, including the electrical and electronics industry, global services, aerospace, creative industries, tourism, halal, biomass and smart agriculture activities,” he said.
“Every effort will be taken to strengthen the country’s fiscal position by increasing revenue and re-targeting subsidies to needy groups,” he said.
Mohd Rafizi said this in response to a question from Senator Dato Ahmad Ibrahim, through a written answer at the Senate meeting on Monday as reported by Sarawak Public Communications Unit (Ukas) yesterday.
He, however, lamented that Malaysia so far has not been able to come out of the category of the middle-income trap because of the uncertainty in the global economic crisis environment that restrained the country’s economy.
“This despite the fact that the country’s economy has tremendously transformed from agriculture and commodity-based to based on manufacturing and services industries,” he said. — DayakDaily
