KUALA LUMPUR: The Government is maintaining its GDP growth forecast this year at 4.5% on the back of an expected stronger performance in the manufacturing and service sectors, particularly in the second half of the year.
Bank Negara Governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz said that despite the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in the region, which has damped economic activity in sectors such as retail, travel and tourism, the economy as a whole had not been severely affected.