Is Govt Serious About Tackling Economic Woes

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With the election dates being hotly debated by those who aspire to hold positions in public offices, the rakyat will continue to hear sugar-coated speeches daily.
Not to mention massive handouts for particular groups and promises of heaven on earth once they are elected to office.
The top political leaders have put the “icing on the cake” by bringing a plane load of their key supporters to no less than New York and the United Nations (UN) – in private jets too!
Many wonder what these public-funded trips to New York are for, let alone the UN general assembly.
Are they given any seats to attend the assembly? Were they assigned any particular task which may help strengthen Malaysia’s international relations?
And were they assigned any interpreters, given that we are to speak in Malay even in the international arena?
In any case, it is mind-boggling that our leaders continue to downplay the economic downturn affecting many nations, including Malaysia.
In fact, our economic growth is not being realistically compared to the actual pre-Covid-19 times.
Anything positive that is calculated based upon a high negative base figure should be viewed from the net figure perspective.
Former minister Rafidah AzizSimilarly, when it comes to trade, especially exports, we should factor in the trends of the currency exchange rates to show whether export earnings merely reflected "gains" in ringgit due to a strengthening greenback.
We must understand that much of our trade is US dollar-denominated.
Our country may have exported the same quantity or lesser but we received more in ringgit when we converted the receipts at the back of a strong US dollar.
One must realise that our import costs have ballooned in the process.
Lacking transparency
These dynamics have a pervasive impact on the economy, especially the vulnerable sectors and of course, the people.
Yet, we have not really embarked on actual economic recovery measures as much of it is just piecemeal solutions.
This is very concerning and there seems to be no culture of transparency in financial governance.
Hence, I urge the government to inform the Parliament of certain details such as:
       Details of the nation’s financial liabilities
       Sources of the debts raised
       When would the last payment of debt be made, assuming we have been paying diligently?
We owe it to the next generation and inform them of the heavy financial burden they will have to shoulder in the future.
And we cannot have an irresponsible government that perpetuates the “enjoy today, tomorrow will take care of itself” attitude.
Malaysia deserves much better and the public has become well-informed over the years, given the crises they had endured and are closely monitoring their elected leaders.
Malaysia has come to a crossroads and the next general election will decide whether we will move forward or continue to slide backwards.
May the Almighty guide us all towards the path of righteousness for a blessed Malaysia. - Mkini
RAFIDAH AZIZ is a former international trade and industry minister.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.

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