Malaysia needs to be adaptable, says governor

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia needs to learn to adapt and survive in an ever-changing environment brought on by the challenging global environment, technological progress and demographic shifts.

Bank Negara Malaysia governor Datuk Muhammad Ibrahim said concerted effort from all stakeholders was needed in order to ride out this wave, especially as the global economy continued to remain relatively weak.

Muhammad said almost a decade after the global financial crisis, the world economy was still projected to grow at an average of 3.5 per cent over the next two years.

He also called for public officials to appreciate how technological progress would influence the way public policies were formulated and communicated.

This is also in line with the country’s demographic shift as 26.3 per cent of the population is aged between 25 and 40.

“This represents a group of better-educated individuals, used to unfettered access to information. They are likely to have higher expectations on public service. The era of ‘government knows best’ is a past participle,” he said at the 28th National Public Sector Accountants Conference in Penang yesterday.

Thus, it is was important that public officials needed to have integrity, agility and validity of measurement to navigate the challenges of the future, said Muhammad.