High hopes Malaysia boom
A leading Malaysian think-tank has raised its forecast for the country's 2007 economic growth to 5.7%, citing government spending, lower inflation and policy changes aimed at spurring business activity, reports Reuters. "Although the external factors appear soft at this point, there are some mitigating factors that can potentially counteract the negative factors," the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research said. "The positive points include the relatively lower inflation rate, good progress in the Ninth Malaysia Plan projects, higher investment approvals and recent policy initiatives to relax foreign exchange rules and scrap the real property gains tax." The institute?s forecast is lower than the government's estimate of 6.0% growth.