KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's economy expanded at 4.7% in the fourth quarter of 2018 (Q4 2018),  which was above Bloomberg's survey of a 4.5% growth, after the moderation in the two consecutive quarters.

The key drivers of growth in the final quarter were resilient private consumption and the improvement in the commodity-related sectors, amid temporary supply disruptions.

Bank Negara Malaysia Governor Datuk Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus said that on the demand side, growth continued to be anchored by the private sector.

“On the supply side, services and manufacturing sectors remained the key drivers of growth," she said during the briefing on the gross domestic product (GDP) data on Thursday.

The services sector grew by 6.9% in Q4 2018, while the manufacturing, mining and quarrying as well as the construction sectors expanded by 4.7%, 0.5% and 2.6% respectively.

However, the agriculture sector continued to be a drag on the economy,  contracting by 0.4%.

For 2018, the economy grew by 4.7% on-year, lower than the 5.9% growth in 2017.   However,  the GDP growth was in line with a Bloomberg survey of 4.7%.

Nor Shamsiah said Malaysia's macroeconomic fundamentals continue to remain strong despite domestic and external headwinds.

"In 2019, the Malaysian economy is likely to remain on a steady growth path, supported by resilience of private consumption and continuation of civil engineering projects apart from recovery from supply side shocks," she said.