Mahathir said he will review all administrative matters that have been handed over to him. ― Picture by Razak Ghazali

PETALING JAYA, May 17 — Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said he needs time to review Malaysia's annual economic growth as he said many of the figures were “fake”, including the gross domestic product (GDP) growth.

Addressing the media after chairing the Pakatan Harapan presidential council meeting at the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia hesdquarters, here, Dr Mahathir said he will review all administrative matters that have been handed over to him.

“On the figures and economic ratings, I realised that a lot of it is fake.

“We need to ensure how far off it is from the truth,” he said, when asked on his forecast of the country’s GDP growth.

The country’s annual economic growth slowed to 5.4 per cent in the first quarter of the year.

The World Bank had in April raised its forecast for Malaysia’s 2018 GDP growth from 5.2 per cent to 5.4 per cent, on sustained high level of private sector expenditure.