Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak expects the country's economic performance in the second quarter this year to be commendable.

NONEWithout disclosing details, Najib (left), who is also the finance minister, said the government would announce the gross domestic product (GDP) figures tomorrow.

"If possible, I want to announce it tonight but cannot. We will announce it tomorrow," he said at a breaking of fast gathering with residents of Pangsapuri Perdana in Taman Sri Manja Petaling Jaya tonight.

"We will announce a growth rate that is commendable tomorrow," he said.

Najib said an improved economic growth could also be seen based on the position of the ringgit which had shown stability compared to other currencies in South-East Asia.

The ringgit closed firmer today at 3.1575/1605 against the US dollar compared with yesterday's close of 3.1790/1830.

Orderly planning for NEM

In another development, the prime minister today chaired a four-hour meeting on the New Economic Model (NEM) aimed at ensuring proper implementation of the policy.

Najib said many new ideas resulted from the meeting and these would enable the government to carry out more orderly planning to ensure that the NEM could progress and was not just rhetoric.

"We will have more orderly and systematic planning for implementation. For this, we hope the people will give their support so that all the plans could be implemented and the objectives achieved," he said.

He added that if the country succeeded in achieving an annual GDP growth of six per cent in the next 10 years, Malaysia could become a developed and high income nation.

He said the Barisan Nasional leadership has master plans to cover every matter and if given the chance to implement them, it will have a major effect on the people and country.

"This shows the government's commitment in developing the country," he added.

- Bernama