Malaysia's economy expanded by 4.3 percent in the second quarter of thisyear compared with 4.1 percent in the first quarter, with firm domesticdemand continued to support growth.

Bank NegaraGovernor, Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, said while domestic demand remainedstrong, the overall growth performance was affected by the weak externaldemand. The net export, which contributed to the overall performance ofthe economy, was something like minus 36 percent.

The central bank governor said during the quarter, private consumptiongrew by 7.2 percent, supported by stable employment conditions andsustained wage growth in the domestic-oriented sectors. Meanwhile,public consumption growth improved by 11.1 percent, reflecting mainlyhigher government spending on supplies and services.

In the second quarter, inflation was at 1.8 percent as compared to 1.5percent in the preceding quarter, due to price increased in the food andnon-alcoholic beverages and housing, water, electricity, gas and otherfuels categories.

Speaking at a press conference inKuala Lumpur on August 21, Governor Zeti said following theprolonged weaknesses in the external economy, the central bank hasrevised downward GDP 's growth for this year to 4.5-5 percent from 5-6percent previously.

For the first half of this year,the average growth was already 4.2 percent, she said, emphasising thateven though Malaysia will have an improvement in the second half of thisyear, the country may see a slightly modest growth than what wasearlier anticipated.-VNA