Its Chairman Teng Chang Yeow said Lim’s statement that the Pakatan Harapan government had succeeded in moving Penang to first place in the ranking for the growth rate in the state’s per capita GDP from 2014 to 2015, was confusing.

“Do not confuse the people, do not lie. We have to understand what the GDP per capita is and the definition of GDP. The GDP is the best way to measure or indicate the economic growth of a country or region.

“It covers everything that is produced by the people and companies in a country. The GDP per capita divides the GDP figures by the number of people.

“According to the Statistics Department, the average GPD per capita for Penang for the years 2006 to 2007 under BN was 11th place, while from 2008 to 2014 during the time of the DAP government, it was at the bottom or 15th place,” he said in a press conference here.

Yesterday, Lim said in a statement that during the eight years the Penang DAP was in power, it succeeded in transforming the state from its bottom ranking under the BN government in 2006 to 2007, to top place in the GDP per capita growth rate in 2014 and 2015.

Teng however argued that Penang recorded the best performance in terms of GDP growth rate during the BN administration, even exceeding the national rate, with the highest achievement in 1994, at a rate of 14.1 per cent.

He said this was the result of BN’s planning, including producing the Penang Development Strategic Plan 1 and 2 for the state’s economic growth from 1992 to 2007.

“The Penang GDP clearly showed a drop during the administration of the Pakatan Harapan government, and was worse than the national growth rate,” he pointed out.