Malaysia is expected to achieve a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of five to six percent this year, driven by strong domestic demand and investment inflows, the country's central bank governor said here Monday.

Zeti Akhtar Aziz, governor of Bank Negara Malaysia, said the risk from global slowdown and the current slowdown in China will not affect Malaysia's GDP target for the whole year.

"These (global risks) are already priced into our forecast, but, if it deteriorates further, of course it will affect us," she told reporters.

However, she said should the global economy slow down significantly, the effect would not be as bad as previously due to the strength of the domestic demand and a strong growth in investment.

Zeti said the country's economy was still strong as investment was still taking place and consumption was steady at six to seven percent.

"We face a lot of challenges that are happening in the global economy, in Europe, the US, UK and Japan, which are important trading partners but it is important for us to stay focus on the economy and keep going," she said. Endi

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