The Malaysian Insight

THERE must be political stability if the country is to come out of an inevitable recession, said an economic expert, as policies must be objectively crafted instead of for partisan gain.  

What helped Malaysia survive and recover from previous economic shocks such as the 1997 financial crisis and the 2008 recession was its political stability said Malaysian Islamic Chamber of Commerce economic adviser Abd Aziz Abu Bakar.  

To recover quickly from the health and economic crisis of the coronavirus, politicians must maintain that stability and objectivity in the coming months, he said.  

“Malaysia has been known even in the international community as being politically stable – that was our strength,” said Aziz, who is also Malaysian Association of Tax Accountants president.  

“Now unfortunately we are not. And I sincerely hope that when we make economic decisions, they are not based on political sentiment or issues,” he said on the webinar, Covid-19 Safety Net for People and the Economy: How to Fund it?, hosted by the Malaysia-China Chamber of Commerce.  

“It is good that the new finance minister is (banker) Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz. I hope he doesn’t go into politics and focuses (instead) on social and economic issues on the finance side because his decisions have been commendable (so far).”  

Aziz’s comments come at another turbulent juncture for the Perikatan Nasional administration which took power in late February through a bloodless coup.

PN suffers from a crisis of credibility as it had deposed the democratically elected Pakatan Harapan government.

Since March, the new government has had its hands full dealing with the pandemic, pumping billions into the economy to help businesses stay afloat and workers employed.

The past week has seen MPs leave the ruling coalition, giving rise to talk of the three-month old PN losing the parliamentary majority that gives it the power to govern.

PN critics had previously questioned the appointment of political greenhorn Tengku Zafrul to a senior cabinet post.

Aziz, however, said the choice of finance minister was one of PN’s best decisions so far.

In three months, PN has spent about RM260 billion on two stimulus packages, collectively known as “Perihatin”, aimed at helping businesses and workers.

The government yesterday unveiled a new RM35 billion economic rescue package called “Penjana” meant to further aid and boost businesses, especially micro and small enterprises, and to help those who have lost their jobs.

“After the presentation of the recovery plan (yesterday), for the time being, the government is doing well in terms of policies and measures to help business and individuals. Hopefully this will go on,” said Aziz.  

Among the schemes and programmes Aziz said benefitted the public are the wage subsidy schemes, Bantuan Prihatin direct cash aid scheme and small grants for micro-enterprises called Prihatin PKS. – June 6, 2020.

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