PUTRAJAYA: The Malaysian economy is expected to record growth of more than 5% for the third consecutive year, driven by consistently strong economic performance, says Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan.

He said Malaysia's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 5.1% and 5.2% in 2024 and 2025, respectively, while the 2026 performance is also showing the same momentum.

"The important thing is that our GDP this year, God willing, will exceed 5% for three consecutive years," he told reporters at the 2026 Finance Run programme organised by the Finance Ministry in conjunction with National Sports Day here on Sunday (Nov 15).

He also shared that the preliminary estimates released by the Statistics Department indicated that the country's economy was expected to grow by 5.3% in the third quarter of 2026.

He said this when asked to comment on the third-quarter GDP performance, which will be announced on Nov 18.

The country's GDP growth for the first nine months of 2026 has so far been reported at 5.5%.

Amir Hamzah said this achievement reflected the government's efforts through the Madani Economic framework to raise the country's economic "ceiling," thereby creating more economic and job opportunities for the people.

He said raising the ceiling was important because further economic development would create better opportunities within the country, including higher-quality jobs.

He also said that raising the economic ceiling would give the government more room to strengthen the economy's "floor" to ensure that the benefits of growth could be more widely felt by the people.

In this regard, he said, Budget 2027 emphasises efforts to raise the people's incomes, including through raising the minimum wage and encouraging government-linked investment companies (GLIC) and government-linked companies (GLC) to offer fairer wages.

"We can see that many of the initiatives we have undertaken, including the minimum wage policy and efforts involving GLIC and GLC to raise wages to appropriate levels, are aimed at ensuring that the benefits of economic growth are also passed on to the people," he said.

At the same time, he said the government understood that not all citizens would directly benefit from economic growth and therefore targeted assistance such as the Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah (STR) and Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (Sara) would continue to be strengthened.

He said that efforts under the Payung Rahmah initiative had also been intensified to help address cost-of-living pressures.

"This is a comprehensive effort by the government, as we are not only focused on boosting the economy but also want to ensure that the people feel the benefits of the country's economic prosperity," he said.

Meanwhile, Amir Hamzah said the Finance Run 2026, organised annually in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and its agencies, attracted more than 2,000 participants.

He said the programme, which was originally scheduled to take place two weeks ago, had to be postponed due to the haze.

According to him, the programme not only encouraged recreational activities but also strengthened relationships and camaraderie among ministry staff and personnel from its agencies. – Bernama