KUALA LUMPUR Malysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said all the economic statistics show that the Malaysian economy has not only recovered but the recovery rate was better than those of other countries that were also affected by the 1997-98 financial crisis.

After the gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 7.4 percent in 1998, a growth of 5.8 percent was achieved in 1999 and 8.5 percent in 2000, he said when tabling the Eighth Malaysia Plan (8MP) at the Dewan Rakyat, Mahathir said that the external reserves increased from $20 billion (RM76 bilion) to $27 billion (RM102.6 billion) now, IRNA reported.

At the end of 1999, the reserves increased to $31 billion (RM117.8 billion) due to increased imports, repatriation of profits and proceeds from the sale of shares and reverse investment by Malaysian firms as well as the depreciation of the yen and euro which form a part of our foreign reserves, he explained.

He said that the unemployment rate remained low at about three percent with low inflation.

Mahathir said exports increased and surpassed RM287 billion while total trade ballooned to RM515 billion.

The balance of payments was in Malaysia's Fevour and the per capita income increased from RM12,160 in 1998 to RM63,360 in 2000, he added.

The prime minister said, all these figures are true and not fabricated. Nevertheless, there were certain parties who claimed that the Malaysian economy was in a bad shape due to the approach adopted by the government.

Dr. Mahathir said the ruling national front or Barisan national (BN) coalition government will continue to implement the 8MP, which forms the first phase of the national vision policy (NVP).

We believe that everything that has been planned and predicted by the government will become a reality within the five-year period of the 8MP.

He said the achievement of the BN government in implementing the five-year plans was there for everyone to see.

Mahathir said any efforts to obstruct the implementation of the 8MP will ultimately fail as all Malaysians will defend it together with the government.

He pointed out that attacks on the economies of the East Asian tigers caused these countries to face severe crisis.

Mahathir added, "We have chosen not to borrow from the IMF (International Monetary Fund) in our efforts to revive the economy and strengthen the financial position of the country."

Although renowned experts from all over the world predicted that Malaysia will eventually collapse due to the currency control imposed, today all of them were forced to admit that the Malaysian approach was capable of overcoming the economic crisis due to the devaluation of the currency and the decline in he share market.