M'SIA NOT IN RECESSION DESPITE GLOBAL FINANCIAL MELTDOWN

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 9 (Bernama) -- Malaysia is not facing a recession now
despite the global financial meltdown that has badly hit the United States and
Europe, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Friday.

"We are not in recession now," he said.

"So, we are not having too much problems in the fourth quarter. Even the
growth at two percent in the quarter, it would give us an average of more than
five percent," he told reporters after opening the Permanent Secretariat of the
World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) Foundation.

"Definitely more than five percent," he said in responding to comments from
former Finance Minister Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah that the Malaysian economy was
bad.

"I don't think that's right, Maybe he don't have all the information that
we have. If it is really that bad, we would have been in recession by now," he
said.

"For next year, we all know we are going to face hard times. We have to
place ourselves to face all these. The RM7 billion (US$2 billion) stimulus
package, which has been set aside, has gone down partially for immediate
implementation," he said.
-- BERNAMA