"KUALA LUMPUR: The economic situation in the country is stable to face any uncertain external situation, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar.

He said there were five major factors that contributed to the strength of the country’s economy.

“The first factor is the government has diversified its economic structure in order not to depend on any sub-sector or commodity.

“For example, the services sector contributes 55 per cent to the country’s economy while manufacturing gives 25 per cent,” he said this at the Dewan Rakyat here today.

He said this in reply to a question by Datuk Mohd Zaim Abu Hasan (BN-Parit) on the possibility of the country’s economy being hit by the impact of or by the systematic failure due to the unstable global economic situation.

Abdul Wahid said the second factor was the stable domestic market environment with the inflation rate maintained at three per cent over the last five years and was expected to remain low due to the global crude oil prices and decline in world commodity prices.

“The third factor is the country’s balance of payments which has been fundamental to the strength of the economy and the fourth factor is the country’s international reserves which stand at RM381.5 billion as of March 13 2015, which is sufficient to pay off external debts in the short term,” he said.

“Our stable banking system with its capital ratio above the minimum level is the fifth factor. The ratio of loans to current deposits is 87 per cent,” he said.

He said the economy would remain strong and stable as the country’s financial system was regulated by Bank Negara Malaysia.

“The country recorded an economic growth of six per cent last year compared to 4.7 per cent in 2013. For this year, we expect growth between 4.5 percent to 5.5 percent,” he said. -- BERNAMA"