KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 6: Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Thursday that October data showed Malaysia’s economy was performing well and the country could achieve positive growth in the fourth quarter.

Gross domestic product (GDP) contracted 1.3 per cent in the third quarter, the first year-on-year contraction since the first quarter of 1999, amid sharp falls in manufacturing output.

But GDP was up 0.8 per cent from the previous quarter and remained positive at 0.7 per cent for the first nine months of the year.

The numbers show that economic performance in the month of October is good, Mahathir told reporters.

Asked if fourth quarter GDP would meet the government’s forecast of 1.0-2.0 percent growth for the whole year, Mahathir said: I still think that we can achieve it.

We need to grow just by a little bit and we will achieve positive growth this year.

The government’s fiscal stimulus would boost the economy and the country has sufficient funds to inject into the economy, he added.

Mahathir, who is also finance minister, added that indicators such as consumption and tourism arrivals were showing signs of improvement.

In many areas, there are positive signs so I am hopeful that there will be growth but you must remember that fourth quarter last year achieved a very high growth rate, so it is very difficult to achieve a growth rate higher than that, he added.

Economists have said Malaysia can still avoid a recession this year despite a worse-than-expected contraction in the September quarter.

The government last month cut its growth forecast for this year for a second time to between 1.0-2.0 per cent, and has imposed a range of fiscal measures to boost consumer spending.—AFP