Dr M’s acolyte slams Najib over economy

(The Malaysian Insider) – Mahatir-era adviser Matthias Chang slammed the prime minister about the Malaysian economy, saying he held no hope that Datuk Seri Najib Razak will be able to strategise and overcome the deepening global financial crisis.

Chang, who has been critical of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s successors, said Najib and his advisers have been contradicting each other on the economic data and outlook for Malaysia, which is now forecast to be in recession with growth contracting up to five per cent for 2009.

“I have given up hope that our Prime Minister who is also the Finance Minister will be able to chart a course that will enable Malaysia to overcome the deepening global financial crisis,” Chang wrote in his www.futurefastforward.com weblog on May 30.

In the post titled “Is There Anyone Really In Charge of Our Economy? If The Central Bank, Treasury and EPU Can’t Get Their Facts and Figures Right, How Can Najib Get It Right?”, Dr Mahathir’s former political secretary said statements by Bank Negara, the Treasury and Economic Planning Unit (EPU) “regarding the massive contraction of our economy are most distressing”.

“What is more depressing is that the data presented by the relevant institutions show that the key advisers to Najib are involved in some sort of turf war and are at logger heads with one another as to the extent of the downturn and what needs to be done,” he wrote, referring to press reports on various statements by Najib and his economic advisers ahead of the Bank Negara announcement last week that first quarter economic growth had slipped 6.2 per cent against the same period in 2008.

“By any measure, a 6.2 per cent contraction in the first quarter of 2009 is huge. How these experts could underestimate the deepening crisis even with the benefit of hindsight as the global financial crisis had deteriorated further in the last quarter of 2008 is hard to comprehend.

“If they could not get it right in the last quarter of 2008 moving to 2009, how can we trust their prognosis that second half of 2009 or that 2010 will be rosier and we will have economic recovery?” Chang asked.

He said he had predicted negative growth for 2009 but the warnings have been ignored, adding he is predicting further negative growth in 2010 and “will be lucky to see some ‘green shoots’ in 2011”.

He also criticised Najib’s appointment of Tan Sri Amirsham Abdul Aziz as chairman of the National Economic Advisory Council,  saying it did not  ”confidence when this banker was responsible for the acquisition of an Indonesian bank which turned out to be a multi-billion ringgit scandal!”

“It goes without saying that Malaysia’s economy will definitely be beyond repair when our Prime Minister appointed the 5th Prime Minister, Abdullah Badawi as adviser for the development of the various “economic corridors” when these pet mega projects of Badawi have been utter failures,” Chang said.

Like other Dr Mahathir supporters, Chang also commented on “rumours that Najib is putting his cronies in charge of Petronas – our country’s cash cow!”

“I suppose, if one is going to be a one-term prime minister, there is only so much time to loot the dwindling coffers!” he said sarcastically.