IT is very satisfying for your actions or views, which might seem to go against conventional wisdom at the time you made them, to be accepted by your critics as being the right ones to solve your particular problem.

This is the feeling of Malaysians, especially Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad, now that the International Monetary Fund has acknowledged that the capital controls to overcome the financial crisis had produced more positive results than initially expected.

The IMF and other international financial institutions and economic experts had ridiculed and even heaped scorn on Malaysia's capital controls and predicting that the nation was heading for more serious economic problems for its radical actions.

These groups, including some Western governments, believed that Malaysia was making a big mistake by not accepting IMF assistance as South Korea, Thailand and Indonesia had done.

When capital controls, and pegging the US dollar at RM3.80, showed signs that Malaysia was able to avert the predicted disaster, some of these critics even took actions to ensure the superiority of the IMF programme.

However, the ordinary South Koreans, Thais and Indonesians as well as their officials thought otherwise and must have regretted being rushed into accepting the IMF treatment because they believed that the world's economic giants knew what they were talking about.

The upshot is that the citizens of the countries in crisis had to suffer unnecessary hardship and mental torture because the IMF prescription was too bitter for their liking and they had to endure the serious side-effects.

However, while we Malaysians deserve to pat ourselves on the back, we must also at the same time not be too complacent. The IMF's volte-face should only be seen as an vindication.

It should not be construed as Malaysia having already cured itself of its financial and economic difficulties. It must be repeated that the worst may be over but the country is still a long way from regaining full economic health.

It is only when the annual economic growth is in the region of 8% and this is maintained over a number of years that the Government could say that things are really back to normal again.

The IMF's endorsement should give us the confidence that we are on the right track in tackling our economic woes. But this should be viewed as only the first step in a long journey to economic recovery.

It is a victory but there are still many battles ahead and we can only relax at our own peril. We might have won the first battle but it is vital that we must win the war as well.

This will only be possible if we continue to concentrate our resources and energies on rebuilding the economy instead of merely basking in the glory of the praises heaped on us at the moment.

We should take this as an encouragement for us to work harder to prove that the present recovery is not just a flash in the pan but is for real. The only way  this can be achieved is for all Malaysians to be focused on this endeavour.

It is for this reason that we must have continued political stability and racial unity and we should not let anyone distract us from this crucial assignment as too much is at stake.