PUTRAJAYA, March 12 — The government has maintained Malaysia's economic growth forecast for 2026 at 4.0 to 4.5 per cent, despite facing global geopolitical challenges and external economic uncertainties.
Economy Minister Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir said it chose to stick with the target after taking into account various factors and risks that may affect the country's economic performance this year.
"This matter will always be reviewed by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), and BNM will ultimately determine whether this target remains up or down. But so far, the indication is that we remain with this target," he told the media after launching the 13th Malaysia Plan implementation monitoring system today.
Akmal added that although the geopolitical situation is among the main challenges in 2026, the economic performance in the previous year indicates that the country's economy remains resilient.
“In 2025, we see indications that our economic resilience is still strong, with growth rates higher than the set target. Gross domestic product growth for 2025 recorded 5.2 per cent, with stronger momentum when it grew 6.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of the year.
"In addition, the labour market also showed encouraging developments when the unemployment rate decreased to 2.9 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2025, the lowest level in 11 years.
“At the same time, inflationary pressures are increasingly under control when the inflation rate moderates to 1.4 per cent in 2025 compared to 1.8 per cent in 2024.
“In terms of the well-being of the people, the 2024 Household Income and Expenditure Survey showed that the incidence of absolute poverty at the national level decreased to 5.1 per cent involving around 416,000 households, while extreme poverty shrank to 0.09 per cent involving around 7,200 households,” he said.
Akmal noted that this is part of the government's ongoing efforts to strengthen the economy and improve people's well-being, which have begun to yield positive results, although global challenges still persist.
