The country's higher-than-expected second quarter economic growth of 3.8 percent year-on-year was hailed by analysts Thursday as a positive indication of the country's long term recovery.

"The GDP result was slightly above what we forecasted at about 3.3 percent, and is definitely a positive sign of our country's strong recovery," said Anthony Daas, head of research of a local securities firm.

"I believe the growth momentum can be sustained as it is quite broad-based, pushed by demand on the domestic side and semiconductor exports," Daas told AFP .

The central bank's figures released Wednesday also showed gross domestic product (GDP) grew a robust 3.9 percent compared to the first quarter.

Mohamed Ariff, executive director of the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research, said the growth rate was likely to improve towards the second half of the year, fuelled by a recovery in exports and the manufacturing sector.

"In the long term it may be difficult to tell, because of our strong reliance on the United States' economy, but for this year, the situation seems fairly clear to say we are well on our way to a strong recovery," he said, adding that he expected economic growth of 5.0-6.0 percent for the second half of the year.