KUALA LUMPUR: The country’s economy is expected to show a positive development by the middle of this year once the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, which begins on Wednesday, gathers momentum, an economist said.
Malaysian Academy of Sciences fellow Datuk Dr Madeline Berma said economists predicted that Malaysia would be able to revive its economy starting in the third quarter of this year, depending on the smooth implementation of the vaccination programmes
.“This is in line with the forecast issued by the Economic Planning Unit which expects the country’s economy to recover around 4.5 to 5.0%, ” she said in a special coverage of the first batch of Covid-19 vaccines arrival to Malaysia on BernamaTV on yesterday.
Madeline said the services sector was one of the sectors that needed to be given priority in the vaccination programme, besides the manufacturing sector to help increase production rates.
She hopes with the national immunisation programmme underway, the country’s tourism and export sectors could also be mobilised again to open more economic opportunities for industry players.
“The country’s tourism and export sectors have been badly affected by the closure of national borders since the Movement Control Order was imposed, ” she said.- The Star