Malaysia's economy set to expand in 2013, 2014 - Najib

The Malaysian economy is set to continue to expand in 2013 and 2014 albeit with a slight moderation in growth, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

He said domestic demand will continue to anchor growth amid the continued moderation in external demand, with the growth to be mainly driven by the private sector and supported by the public sector.

"There are however risks to growth, especially from the external environment," he said in a press conference after attending Bank Negara Malaysia's (BNM) board briefing here Thursday.

Najib said global growth is expected to continue to remain modest as growth in the major advanced economies will still be affected by the ongoing structural adjustments and policy uncertainty.

He said Malaysia could face increased volatility in the financial markets as these major economies are calibrating their policies.

"Given this challenging environment, BNM has put forward a number of proposals to strengthen our economic resilience and to accelerate our economic transformation agenda to become a high value-added and high-income economy," he said.

In addition, Najib said the government is committed to strengthening the country's macro and fiscal position.

"We have put in place a fiscal committee, we are looking at some challenges and all these will be addressed shortly, particularly in the forthcoming budget," he said.