Ismail said his confidence brews from the fact that Malaysia is able to sustain its economic situation after the positive growth shown this year.

He cited the country’s positive GDP of 8.9% in the second quarter of 2022 compared with 5% in the first quarter of 2022.

“The achievement recorded is the best in Southeast Asia. The confidence in the country’s economy also stems from the positivity shown by foreign direct investment,” he said in his speech at Dataran Auraora Bahau, near here last night.

The prime minister said for the first half of 2022, the FDI registered was RM41.7 billion compared with RM23.3 billion during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Malaysia’s economic growth for the second quarter of 2022 was the highest in Asean and higher than China, which registered 0.4%, the United States (1.6%), South Korea (2.9%), Europe (4%), Singapore (4.4%), Indonesia (5.4%), and the Philippines (7.4%),” he said.

Ismail said a number of indicative economic factors registered good performance, especially the purchasing managers’ index (PMI) which exceeded expectations, that is 50.3%. The arrival of tourists increased to 3.2 million from January to July 2022.

According to Ismail, it was only through the increase in economic revenue, that the government was able to table the 2023 budget, making it the highest in history at RM373.3 billion.

“We believe that although the world economy next year remains uncertain. we are confident that the economic situation in Malaysia will not be affected like other countries.

“Although economic growth is expected to be challenging, it will not be as challenging as situations faced by other countries,” he said.