Economy Grows On Business Confidence

Bandar Seri Begawan - Bullish business sentiment and government expenses on public services fuelled the economy, which grew six per cent in the last three months of last year.

Official data released by the Department of Statistics, Department of Economic Planning and Development (JPKE), Prime Minister's Office show that Brunei Darussalam's favourable economic figures in the last quarter can be credited to bullish sentiment both by businessmen and the government.

Capital formation - meaning investments made in the business sector both by the government and private individuals - registered a 20.5 per cent growth from the same period in 2005. This was the highest quarterly figure recorded in two years since the first quarter of 2005.

Money invested in businesses in the fourth quarter last year totalled $522.4 million based on current prices.

"The (double-digit) growth is attributed to the increases (in investments) in both construction and machinery and equipment," JPKE said in its Fourth Quarter 2006 GDP report.

Capital invested in the construction sector rose 18.3 per cent in the fourth quarter last year from the same period the previous year, while that for machinery and equipment grew 24.8 per cent. The last item indicates that businesses were bullish in that they were either buying new machinery or expanding existing ones to take advantage of a growing economy.

Government consumption expenditure also soared 21.2 per cent to $826.9 million in the last three months last year. This was the second biggest quarterly expenditure by the government last year, the highest being $913 million in the first quarter.

By production, JPKE stressed that the non-oil sector posted a remarkable 11.8 per cent year-on-year growth in the last quarter of 2006. This is high compared to quarterly growth rates of 3.9 and 0.9 per cent in the third quarters of 2006 and the fourth quarter of 2005, respectively.

Growth of the oil sector, on the other hand, lost some steam in the last three months of last year at 1.6 per cent.

By sector, economic expansion was to a significant degree due to the rapid expansion posted by the services sector.-- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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