BN: Malaysia on better economic footing due to deliberate policies

(The Star) – Malaysia’s economic stability is better than Singapore’s, says Barisan Nasional.

In a statement on Saturday, the ruling party said although Singapore had always done better in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, this trend had now changed.

“The reason why Malaysia has been more resilient post-2009 is a deliberate effort by Datuk Seri Naib Tun Razak’s Economic Transformation Program (ETP) for Malaysia to not to be overly-dependent on world commodity prices, international trade and on foreign investments as we were in the past.

“There was a deliberate rebalancing to the domestic economy,” it said in a statement.

It added that among efforts taken in the ETP was to reduce reliance on petroleum-related income.

“Hence, the slump in oil prices did not affect Malaysia as much as Singapore, which is the oil hub of Asia.

“The Malaysian Government’s reliance on petroleum-related income has dropped from more than 41.3% in 2009 to 14% now, a remarkable achievement,” it said.

It added that the move by the Government to redistribute income and development to rural economies had also increased domestic demand.

“The Government had focused on raising income levels of the bottom 40% and reducing income inequality with deliberate policies such as minimum wage, BR1M, rural development aid and a specific focus on development projects for the rural economy,” said the statement.

It pointed out that the government placed larger focus on the growth of Gross National Income (GNI) as opposed to GDP, which includes foreign owned firms in Malaysia.

“There was a focus on increasing the level of domestic investments to be higher than foreign investments and now Malaysia’s growth is less volatile and more robust compared to our neighbour.

“Current and future projects such as the East Coast Rail Link, Pan Borneo Highway and Central Spine Road is a testament to this commitment to develop regions and communities that have lagged our west corridor,” it said.

The statement by the strategic communications team by Barisan then said this could only mean that Malaysia’s economy will be more resilient, more equal, more sustainable and less volatile than before.