Najib touts NTP, points out economic growth

SHAH ALAM: The country's achievements in the face of a global economic volatility is clearly demonstrated in the National Transformation Programme (NTP) which is in its sixth year of implementation, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak.
He said despite 2016 being a challenging year, the government's commitment to the programme ensured the country's economic fundamentals remained firm.
"The proof, Malaysia is among the earliest countries to benefit from the global economic recovery," he said during his speech at the launch of the NTP Report 2016 at Universiti Teknologi Mara last night.
He pointed out that since 2010, the country has recorded a resilient GDP average of 5.1%, twice the average of the world's economic growth.
"The country's economy has expanded at a rate beyond the government and the World Bank's expectations, which is at 5.6% for the first quarter of this year.
"I am also pleased to note that efforts to diversify the government's sources of revenue have successfully reduced oil and gas sector-related revenue from 41.3% in 2009 to 14.6% in 2016."
In stating that absolute poverty in Malaysia is now almost zero, Najib pointed out that the national poverty rate has gone down from 3.8% in 2009 to 0.6% in 2014.
"The country's economy is on the right track as 2.26 million new jobs from a target of 3.3 million have been created," he said.
"If there was a survey, is there any other government in the world that is as transparent and disciplined to fulfil its promises instead of merely offering empty promises?"
While there are many parties who remain doubtful of the government's ability to weather economic challenges in the country, Najib said the Barisan Nasional government had answered them by introducing brave measures over the last eight years to ensure that the nation remained on the right economic track.
Among the Cabinet Ministers present were Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Ali Hamsa, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Idris Jala, International Trade and Industry Minister II Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong and Deputy Education Minister Datuk P. Kamalanathan.