Zafrul: Economic growth could hit 5.5% with stimulus measures

by **Cals** Tue 15 Sep 2015, 01:25

Zafrul: Economic growth could hit 5.5% with stimulus measures

By Gho Chee Yuan / theedgemarkets.com | September 14, 2015 : 6:57 PM MYT

KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 14): [size=16]CIMB Group Holdings Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Valuation: 2.25, Fundamental: 1.05) group chief executive Tengku Datuk Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz sees the country’s economic growth this year hit the upper end of the official target of 5.5% if all economic stimulus measures announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak today are executed well.

“We are confident that if all the measures announced are executed well, growth could actually be closer to the upper end of the official target of 5.5%.

“Although there may be some time lag before we can see the full positive effects working through the financial and capital markets and in turn, the real economy,” he said in a statement today.

Describing the measures as a well-balanced plan that could stabilise the financial markets and support business activities, Zafrul also welcomed the government’s continuous commitment in consolidating its fiscal account and its efforts to contain the deficit target of 3.2% gross domestic product for this year.

“We look forward to more constructive measures to be announced in Budget 2016 to bolster economic growth,” he said.

Earlier today, Najib had announced that Putrajaya will inject RM20 billion into ValueCap Sdn Bhd, a state investment firm, to acquire the undervalued shares in a bid to boost confidence in a country reeling from a political scandal.

Najib also announced that the factory sector would be exempted from import duties until the economy recovers from a slowdown, but did not specify which specific sectors would benefit from the exemption.

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