Malaysia keeps 5-6% GDP forecast

Malaysia keeps 5-6% GDP forecast

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's central bank will not revise its 2005 GDP growth forecast of between 5 percent and 6 percent, despite surging oil prices in the global market, its governor said on Sunday.

"We will wait for three or four months before making any fundamental change in view of the current high price of oil (in the international market)," Bank Negara governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz was quoted as saying by the Bernama news agency.

Malaysia, a net oil producer, has forecast a gross domestic product of 5 percent to 6 percent for this year, down from 7.1 percent last year.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said last month that the government might review the economic growth forecast in view of skyrocketing oil prices.

U.S. banking giant JP Morgan said earlier this month that Malaysia's growth rate in 2005 would hit just 4.7 percent, well below the government's target. -- AFP