News by syafiqah Salim

BNM said yesterday that Malaysia's economy grew at a moderate pace of 4.3% in 2019, and looking ahead, growth, particularly in 1Q2020, will be affected by the COVID-19 outbreak primarily in the tourism-related and manufacturing sectors.

According to Rosmah’s lawyer Mohamed Reza Rahim, there have not been any charges against Najib and Rosmah.

Those who already had their statements taken at Bukit Aman included Baling Member of Parliament Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim; Tan Sri Shukry Mohd Salleh, who was Najib’s principal private secretary; and Datuk Amhari Efendi Nazaruddin, former special officer to Najib.

In a statement today responding to recent social media posts, UJ said Lim was not involved in the decision-making for the above restructuring exercise or any decision that pertains to UJ.

In an economic update today, the research house said the Malaysian economy ended 2019 on a low, with real gross domestic product (GDP) growth slowing sharply to 3.6% year-on-year (y-o-y) in 4Q19, from 4.4% in the previous quarter, its slowest quarterly y-o-y growth since 3Q09.

The property developer posted a net profit of RM18.76 million in 3QFY20 compared with a net loss of RM8.76 million a year ago. As a result, it recorded an earnings per share of 1.31 sen for 3QFY20 from a loss per share of 0.67 sen for 3QFY19.

560,901 close contacts had been tracked, while 141,552 people were under medical observation.

The counter hit £0.73 again today before closing the day at £0.72.

The World Health Organization had named officially named the novel coronavirus — which was first detected in Wuhan, China — Covid-19 yesterday.

According to Touch ‘n Go chief executive officer Syahrunizam Samsudin, there have been about 55 million transactions registered under the RFID system in the past 18 months, with total transaction value hitting RM110 million.