By Lee Wei Lian
KUALA LUMPUR, June 4 — The world is grappling with an economic slowdown for the second time in three years and risks entering a sustained period of economic volatility, said Datuk Seri Najib Razak today.
The prime minister said that the world economy has remained sluggish since the 2009 financial crisis and the uncertainty is deterring investment and holding back demand.
“More recent developments also remind us that we are not yet out of the woods,” he said in a speech at the World Gas Conference here.
“A disorderly European debt default cannot be ruled out, and this uncertainty compounds the risks that stem from an uneven US recovery and slower economic growth in China.”
Najib added that the economic risks made it tempting to try and maintain the status quo, but said reforms were required to restart sustainable growth.
“Indeed unless more urgent steps are taken to address the systemic weaknesses that act as a barrier to self-sustaining global growth, we could find ourselves mired in a protracted period of economic volatility — the proverbial ‘stop-go’ economy,” he said.
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