SABAH POSTS HIGHEST GDP SINCE COVID-19 IN 2024

KOTA KINABALU, Nov 11 (Bernama) -- Sabah's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has shown an encouraging increase from RM77.80 billion in 2020 to RM84.30 billion in 2024, which is the highest post-COVID-19, said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.

He said the achievement proved the effectiveness of the Sabah government's fiscal policies, especially in terms of the prudent management of its revenue and efficient collection system, thus demonstrating the state's economic resilience despite facing a challenging environment, including geopolitical tensions and commodity market uncertainty.

"For 2025 and 2026, the state's growth momentum is expected to continue strengthening through the implementation of high-impact projects, with a projected increase of around 1.5 per cent to 2 per cent,” he said at the 2025 Sabah Civil Service Convention at the Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC) today.

Hajiji also said that the state government has managed to control inflation in an orderly manner, with Sabah's inflation rate at 1.2 per cent in 2024, lower than the national rate of 1.8 per cent.

He added that this was also a result of the government's stimulus initiatives, including the Micro Credit Loan Scheme, to help empower small and medium entrepreneurs, with total approved financing of RM2.37 million for 1,210 applications, thus far.

Regarding the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP), which begins next year, Hajiji said Sabah remains one of the states receiving the highest development funding of RM6.9 million for 2026, and this is expected to accelerate the state's socio-economic growth.

Meanwhile, the Sabah Cabinet had, on June 4, approved a development expenditure ceiling of RM12.02 billion under the 13MP, covering 1,173 development programmes and projects, which is the highest development allocation in the state's history, he said.

Hajiji said that to ensure efficient service delivery, the government had developed a Good Regulatory Practice policy, designed to improve the quality of regulations and eliminate those that are ineffective for the economy and the people’s well-being.

"Throughout these five years, a total of 48 new and amended bills were introduced to ensure the objectives are achieved,” he said.

Hajiji said the civil service's wholehearted support and commitment had led to the success of the Sabah Maju Jaya 1.0 Road Map, which is a comprehensive development plan, during the five years he has led the Sabah Government.

"The feedback and complaints that I received were not necessarily positive. There are definitely elected representatives, PPM (Community Development Leaders) and even grassroots-level leaders who always present reports (to me).

"That's why I say, through the past five years, there were things that I am extremely pleased with, and some that I am disappointed with. But that's normal, as a leader, we always expect the best from our subordinates,” he said.

-- BERNAMA