International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed has lashed out at Federal Opposition politicians for claiming that Malaysia is in a state of economic crisis.
He said the claims made by the Opposition, which compared the country’s current troubles to the 1997/1998 financial crisis, were “basesless” and not couched in facts and in-depth research.
“In actual fact, in matters concerning core issues such as the nation’s economy, racial ties and religion, we must think as one.
“In this aspect, it is clear that the Opposition is attempting to shake the confidence of people and the international community of Malaysia’s economic prospects.
“This is an irresponsible action,” he said, as reported by The Star Online.
Despite admitting that the current economic situation as daunting, Mustapa insisted that today’s climate is far different from that experienced in 1997 and 1998.
“We admit that the value of our currency (ringgit) has depreciated between 10 and 11% but it eroded steeply from RM2.50 to almost RM5.00 against the US dollar during the 1997/98 crisis.
“Back then, our reserves dwindled but now it is still hovering around US$100bil. Our financial institutions were in trouble but today they are strong and resilient with hefty reserves and surplus liquidity,” he said.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Najib Razak announced that Malaysia was not in a state of economic crisis, following the sharp drop in global oil prices and other external economic factors which were out of Putrajaya’s control.
Najib also announced several cuts in operational expenditure totalling RM5.5 billion to keep the nation’s spending in line with Budget 2015 allocations.
One of the more prominent cuts was a year-long freeze on the National Service programme, which would yield RM400 million in savings for the government.
Mustapa defended the PM’s announced measures as having been thoroughly researched and studied.
“The explanation given by the prime minister took into account current changes and what’s important is the Government took time to study policy changes that were necessary to be made to ensure the country’s financial standing remained strong and intact,” he said.
Photo: The Star
