KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 31 ― Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak admitted today that 2016 has been a rollercoaster year but asserted that his government succeeded in steering the country out of troubled waters even as other economies were buffeted by the headwinds.

In his 2017 new year message today, Najib said Malaysia’s stable economic growth amid a volatile global market had earned the country praise from the International Monetary Fund.

He urged Malaysians to take pride in the year’s achievements and be more confident of future accomplishments in the year ahead.

“We have kept the budget deficit, inflation and unemployment low, and the resilience we have been building in our economy has seen us through times of global turbulence. Our economic plan is working.

“Our estimated growth rate of 4.3-4.5 per cent for this year is one that developed countries in Europe and North America can only dream of,” he said in a statement.

He also assured Malaysians of his administration’s commitment to ease the economic burdens faced by low-income families.

Najib said that this is evident in the Budget 2017, where the bottom 40 per cent and middle 40 per cent groups were given special attention with the announcement of several initiatives to provide new affordable housing, tax relief and nutritional food packages for hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren.

He also called on the public to refrain from believing false news reports and smear campaigns targeted at his leadership and administration.

“Fake news and the proliferation of false stories has become a worldwide phenomenon, and is a grave problem in our country as well,” he said.

He noted that Malaysia had not been spared from the Islamic State’s terrorist threat, referring to the June grenade attack on a nightclub in Puchong, Selangor that wounded eight patrons, as well as the frequent incursions into Sabah by Filipino militants on their kidnap-for-ransom operations.

He credited the security forces for their dedication in preventing fatalities and gave an assurance that the government is at the forefront of the war against extremism and radicalisation.

On the international front, Najib said that Malaysia will continue to play a leading role in championing “global issues that matter”, highlighting Malaysia’s success in requesting a gathering of Asean Foreign Ministers to discuss possible solutions to the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar.

The prime minister highlighted the excellent sportsmanship shown by both the Malaysian Paralympics and Olympics teams at the Games held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil this year.

He noted that their performances had united Malaysians of all backgrounds, adding that it can be the impetus to deepen the bond of citizens to strive for the country’s progress.

“The sporting heroics may have been achieved in Rio de Janeiro, but I took an equal amount of pride in the way that all Malaysians ― in cities and kampungs across this great land of ours ― came together in support of the national team. It truly was a reflection of 1Malaysia,” he said.

“That is who we must be as we look to the future, to our 2050 National Transformation policy (TN50) and the nation we aspire to be by the middle of this century,” he said.