KL 'needs policies that create inclusive growth'

Kuala Lumpur

DESPITE continuing economic growth, Malaysia's middle class remains small - at 20 per cent of total households - which a United Nations report has attributed to limited upward social mobility and the unequal distribution of wealth and opportunities.

The inaugural report on human development in Malaysia in 2013 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) found that the initial positive impact of Malaysia's New Economic Policy (NEP) - the country's affirmative action programme - had waned. It has instead skewed the distribution of wealth, concentrating it at the top end of society.