He said this was also based on the continued improvement in wholesale and retail trade in the country.
Tengku Zafrul pointed out that the economy was gradually improving and has started to expand, based on various indicators for May 2022.
To accelerate the recovery momentum, the finance ministry has kickstarted engagement sessions in an effort to establish measures that take into account the needs of various stakeholders, he said.
“The 2023 budget will emphasise structural reforms and the boosting of economic resilience.
“The government will continue to focus on the well-being of the people, businesses and economy,” he said in a statement today.
Based on the latest developments, he said the country is set to achieve the forecast GDP growth of 5.3-6.3% for 2022, in line with the projections made by the International Monetary Fund (5.75% growth) and the World Bank (5.5%).
Among the May 2022 indicators that pointed to the improvement in the country’s economy was the drop in the number of unemployed people to 637,700 from 649,300 in the preceding month, with the national unemployment rate remaining at 3.9%.
Tengku Zafrul also noted that the labour market recovery continued to stabilise in May 2022 in tandem with the higher demand for goods and services.
“This has also given more opportunities for businesses to generate revenue once more, as reflected by the recent retail and wholesale trade figures,” he said.
He added that the industrial production index for May was up by 4.1% year-on-year (y-o-y), driven by electrical and electronic products which have increased by 15.5%.
“This was in line with manufacturing sales amounting to RM142 billion (in May), a 15.7% y-o-y increase,” Tengku Zafrul said.
The country’s trade performance also remained resilient and maintained its growth momentum. Trade increased 33.6% y-o-y to RM228.4 billion in May, the 16th month of double-digit growth (since February 2021), he noted.
Moreover, he said May 2022 data showed wholesale and retail trade grew by 19.9% y-o-y to RM129.8 billion.
“This shows a recovery in domestic demand which continues to strengthen,” he added.