KL needs 7% growth until 2020

KL needs 7% growth until 2020

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuter): Malaysia's economy will have to grow by at least 7 percent a year until 2020 if the country is to achieve developed country status by then, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said yesterday.

"According to our calculations, to achieve our target of a developed nation, the growth rate must continue to average at least 7 percent until the year 2020," Mahathir said in a speech to a multimedia conference.

Analysts have said Malaysia needs to grow by around eight percent a year to achieve developed status by the year 2020.

Mahathir said the government expected the manufacturing sector's contribution to gross domestic product would peak at around 38 percent by about the year 2005.

Currently, the manufacturing sector contributes about 35 percent to GDP.

The government has officially forecast GDP growth of around eight percent for 1997 and Finance Minister Anwar Ibrahim has said growth could be even higher.

However, a Reuters poll last week showed average expectations of GDP growth of 7.8 percent in 1997 and 6.6 percent in 1998.

Malaysia's annual GDP growth has topped 8 percent for almost a decade.