Monday 23 January 2017

1MDB. Jangan Hilangkan Dia

Is the award winning best original soundtrack by Rossa.

Iye, jangan hilangkan dia, sampai semua beres ke akar umbi, seems to be the agenda on the table. Reuters has an interesting story on how Najib Razak is doing a GOOD job managing the economy, but the ghost of 1MDB won't go away.

That ghost is haunting the Ringgit and the economy, so says Reuters. This is their story. Read below :

Since November 2014 the ringgit has slumped by over one-third against the U.S. dollar, three times more than the Philippine peso, Indonesian rupiah, Singaporean dollar and Thai baht. That frustrates Malaysia's middle class, many of whom aspire for the country to become more like Singapore; they complain that even visiting Thailand has become expensive. The currency's slide has become a stick used by the opposition to bash the government.

    The ringgit's weakness matters because voters care, and because foreigners own nearly half of Malaysia's government bonds. That's unfortunate because Najib has otherwise done a decent job of putting the economy on a solid footing. The government expects Malaysia could grow as much as 5 percent next year, and the country continues down the path of fiscal consolidation with the recent introduction of a goods and services tax, which is unpopular but has helped reduce the government's dependence on oil revenue.

    As a small nation, surrounded by mostly larger, faster-growing neighbours, against a backdrop of rising U.S. rates, Malaysia needs to move on from 1MDB, but governance clearly matters to investors and possibly voters. Najib may have dodged a bullet abroad – but the struggle at home continues.