Malaysian economy to grow better than expected

(MENAFN) Malaysia's economy grew better than expected at 5.8 percent in the last quarter of 2014 due to strong domestic demand, the central bank said, leading the country to its best annual performance in four years, Gulf News reported.

The news will come as welcome relief for the government, which has recently unveiled measures to help the petroleum-exporting country cope with the recent plunge in global oil prices.

The October-December growth in Southeast Asia's third biggest economy was better than the 5.6 percent tipped by analysts in a Bloomberg News survey. The annual rate of 6.0 percent also surpassed the 5.8 percent forecast and was the best performance since 7.4 percent growth in 2010.