Malaysia is on track to reach its economic growth target of 6.0 percent this year, central bank chief Zeti Akhtar Aziz said today despite fears that exports are slowing.

"Right now we are still optimistic about the outlook because the external environment still remains favourable," the Bank Negara chief said according to the Bernama official news agency.

Zeti was responding to a question about whether Malaysia was concerned over weaker-than-expected export figures for April which saw the sector increased 6.3 percent to RM46.3 billion (US$12.8 billion) from last year.

"We don't look at month-to-month movements in figures like exports. The economy is very diversified, so sometimes when one experiences slightly lower growth, there are other parts of the economy that experience better performance," she said.

"We are not revising the outlook at this point at this time. We will wait for further information on what the development will be until the second half of the year," she added.

Affect on exports

The economy grew by 5.3 percent in the first quarter of 2006.

Zeti also said that the appreciating ringgit currency would not have an affect on exports.

"We believe in the resilience of our export sector. At this point of time, (the ringgit) will not be a factor affecting trade. It is more of the global demand which still remains strong," she said.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi also said last week that he is confident in the 6.0 percent growth forecast, despite pressures including rising inflation.

The inflation rate reached a six-year high in March at 4.8 percent following steep fuel price hikes.