‘PUT NATIONAL

Those who paint a bad picture of the country’s economy must stop, says PM

MELISSA DARLYNE CHOW AND HANA NAZ HARUN KUALA LUMPUR news@nst.com.my

PRIME Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has called for “certain quarters” to stop resorting to economic sabotage of the country.

“There are those who use inaccurate and baseless facts to paint a bad picture of the country’s economic situation. This cannot go on. Although there are differences in opinion, national interest must override everything else. Economic sabotage must be stopped,” he said during a question-and-answer session at the Dewan Rakyat here yesterday.

Najib was replying to a supplementary question by Datuk Irmohizam Ibrahim (BN-Kuala Selangor), who wanted to know what measures had been taken to stop the economic sabotage.

Najib said because of such elements, the country almost lost RM31 billion in Saudi Aramco investments.

“Thankfully, we managed to convince them (Saudi Aramco) that the country’s economic situation is being addressed accordingly.”

Earlier, to Dr Tan Seng Giaw’s (DAP-Kepong) question on measures taken to tackle the ringgit’s depreciation, Najib, who is also the finance minister, said Bank Negara’s reserve of US$95 billion (RM421 billion) would serve as a buffer to excessive fluctuation in the financial market.

“At the end of last year, Bank Negara had tightened regulations to prevent the involvement of licensed financial institutions in non-deliverable forward (NDF) activities.

“This move was meant to curb speculative activities on the NDF