Govt maintaining 5.5% to 6% growth target this year, says Donald Lim

KUALA LUMPUR: The government is maintaining its target of a 5.5% to 6% economic growth for 2011, as the second half of the year is expected to be better with the rollout of more projects, said Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Donald Lim Siang Chai.

He also said that given the European financial crisis, Malaysian firms must take the opportunity to attract investors to invest their funds here.

“We must have the right people to approach the right parties to come here. MIDA has been doing a good job but I believe it is time to be more aggressive,” he said after opening 26th National Economic briefing on Thursday, July 14.

He said the country’s 1Q growth of 4.6% was based on the global scenario, adding that while Europe had its problems at the moment, Malaysia looked towards its main trading partners, namely China and Singapore that were quite stable.

He said Japan, which was Malaysia’s third biggest trading partner, had many possibilities.

“We have to monitor (Japan) and our businessmen have to be aggressive in their approach as the yneed materials and expertise for rebuilding. But output from there will be lower as well,” he said.

Lim also expressed his concerns over the low expenditure by various ministries, pointing out that some had spent as low as 10% of what they had budgeted for six months.

“We are telling them to act fast,” he said.