PAS Ulama wants in on Najib’s special economy committee

(Malay Mail Online) – PAS’s clergy wing urged Putrajaya today to include Islamic finance and Islamic economics experts in the special committee tasked to solve Malaysia’s economic issues that was announced by the prime minister earlier in the day.

The PAS Ulama wing said it is ready to offer its expertise in the two fields, and will be glad for its members to join the committee.

“The wing urges the government to also include Islamic finance and economic experts as members of the committee. Their involvement is important to ensure that the economy is in line with Islamic principles and grows with full blessing.

“We are ready and would be willing to offer experts in these fields to be involved in the committee,” the wing’s information chief Datuk Dr Khairuddin Aman Razali said in a statement.

It also said that the committee must include Islamic principles when finding the solution to the country’s economic woes, saying that the Quran lists gratitude, faith and obedience to God as the three key factors for prosperity.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is also finance minister, said earlier today that the panel will look into producing solutions to help sustain Malaysia’s growth momentum, but did not provide further details.

“This committee’s objective is to ensure Malaysia’s growth momentum will… for some time continue and able to generate prosperity and higher quality of life for all Malaysians in the light of the current, rather, uncertain and challenging times,” said Najib.

Since last year, the ringgit has lost over a fifth of its value against the US dollar, now hovering around RM4.10 to the greenback and below the RM3.80 peg that was imposed during the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis.

The sharp drop is not unique to Malaysia as the decline in currencies was also seen in other commodities-driven countries, including Indonesia and Australia.

However, economists have remarked on Malaysia’s political instability as the country’s leadership deals with controversies surrounding debt-riddled state investment firm 1Malaysia Development Berhad.