FINANCE Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz has certainly learnt the hard way that there is a limit to being optimistic, especially when making economic and financial-related projections.
Ministers must watch their words closely – or be pretty sure that their statements can hold water – especially given news travel at supersonic speed in today’s high-tech world. Otherwise, the silence is golden virtue serves as the best policy.
Recall how his recent LinkedIn comment over how Malaysia had received more than RM100 bil in approved investments which involve close to 3,000 projects earned a backlash from EU-Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (EUROCHAM Malaysia) CEO Sven Schneider.
In a rebuttal, Schneider said many investors are having concerns in regards to Malaysia’s attractiveness as a viable investment hub of late.
“I’m very sorry to make this comment but representing a sizeable community of foreign investors, the EU, we currently receive a lot of concerns regarding Malaysia as a viable investment destination,” he pointed out.
Schneider added Tengku Zafrul had yet to make himself available to his business chamber to discuss matters concerning the latter’s commercial interests.
More recently, Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) central committee member Sharan Raj poured cold water over Tengku Zafrul’s over-optimism during a Bloomberg interview that Malaysia is expected to post a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 6.5-7.5% this year.
“Malaysia is an export-oriented nation which means our economy is dependent on the prosperity of other counties.
“But many countries have cut back due to sluggish economy. In my view, the growth projection by Tengku Zafrul is too high,” Sharan told FocusM.
It’s not wrong for Tengku Zafrul to be wanting to market Malaysia especially at a time when foreign direct investment (FDI) is hard to come by – or is leaving the Malaysian shores.
When addressing an international audience, the best practice is to be humble – or just let the statistical data do the talking.
In his latest interview with CNBC today, he reassured that Malaysia will not implement a total lockdown on the economy even if the worst case scenario comes true.
Instead, he said the Government will continue to focus on enforcing a more stringent standard operating procedure (SOP) should the number of COVID-19 cases remained high in the country.
”Base on the current model, we believe the number of cases will go down.
“Assuming worst case scenario (did come true), it will not be a total lockdown on the economy, we will continue to focus on more stringent SOP,” he told the business channel as cited by Bernama.
Is Tengku Zafrul hinting that the the movement control order (MCO 2.0) that is currently implemented almost across the nation (except Sarawak) will be lifted come Feb 4?
Or is he merely allaying the concerns of foreign investors (or the business community) that economic gains will be prioritised at all cost over the health and well-being of the ordinary citizens?
Interestingly, Tengku Zafrul continued to maintain his optimism that Malaysia’s 2021 gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast of 6.5-7.5% is achievable along with a fiscal deficit target of 5.4% of GDP this year.
He was upbeat that the economy would be supported by the recently announced RM15 bil PERMAI assistance package which aimed to assist various sectors as well as the micro, small and medium enterprises in the country.
Asked if there were risks that the fiscal deficit would widen should the Government need to spend more to combat the rising COVID-19 cases in Malaysia, Tengku Zafrul shrugged off the jitters.
“Should we need further fiscal injection to stimulate the economy, it would have an impact on the deficit target. But it (the fiscal injection) will help (the growth of) revenue and the GDP, so the target (of 5.4%) should remain the same,” he justified.
Well, time will tell if Tengku Zafrul is right in his assessment. – Jan 29, 2021
