Answer for Oral Question PL179

QUESTION

Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Indera Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Suyoi bin Haji Osman

YANG BERHORMAT PEHIN ORANG KAYA INDERA PAHLAWAN DATO SERI SETIA AWANG HAJI SUYOI BIN HAJI OSMAN asks YANG BERHORMAT Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri dan Menteri Kewangan dan Ekonomi II to state what is the current economic situation of Negara Brunei Darussalam at present? What are the steps by the Ministry of Finance and Economy to increase the country's economic growth through economic diversification and foreign investment, where success in both of these is expected to bring a major impact to the country's economy.

ANSWER

Yang Berhormat Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri dan Menteri Kewangan dan Ekonomi II

Thank you Yang Berhormat Pehin Yang Di-Pertua,

Touching on the current state of the economy of Negara Brunei Darussalam, Kaola would like to summarise the latest developments, particularly those related to the level of gross domestic product or GDP achievement, the inflation rate, overseas trade performance, as well as in terms of the national labour market.

As Kaola has shared before, during the First Legislative Council session of the 21st Session, Year 2025, the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2024 recorded the highest growth in several recent years, with the growth rate updated to 4.1 per cent in June 2025. At the same time, the national unemployment rate recorded its lowest level since 1991. In terms of contributions to the economy:

• Non-oil and gas exports have exceeded 50 per cent of total exports since 2021, compared with 11 per cent in 2017.
• The contribution of the non-oil and gas sector to GDP has also exceeded 50 per cent since 2022 compared with 31 per cent in 2017.

This trend reflects positive developments in the country's economy towards a dynamic and resilient economic structure. However, these positive developments do not necessarily occur every year given that the oil and gas sector contributes significantly to the country's economy and the economy is also exposed to external challenges and uncertainties.

The current global environment, influenced by rising tariffs, supply chain disruptions, technological progress and geopolitical uncertainty, also affects the strategies or efforts that have been planned to increase investment and economic growth.

Nevertheless, the country's efforts to strengthen foreign direct investment (FDI) will continue to be reinforced and further enhanced as in previous years as a strategy to broaden the economic base as well as support job creation and sectoral diversification.

To date, progress efforts in key sectors are being actively carried out. According to the measurement of The Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI), the country has shifted from an economy dependent on oil and gas to a moderate level of economic diversification. This is part of the structural transformation of the economy that is being actively implemented. However, this change will indeed take time and does not necessarily guarantee consistently positive growth due to external challenges and uncertainties as Kaola touched on earlier.

That is all, thank you Yang Berhormat Pehin Yang Di-Pertua.