INTERVIEW | Kuala Lumpur-based economist Shankaran Nambiar has predicted lower growth figures for Malaysia this year saying that the numbers were "not nice" due to external factors.

Although Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said that "economic indicators are encouraging", Nambiar said the ministry's expectation that the economy will grow at 4.9 percent was an "optimistic” as growth could well fall to 4.5 percent.