Daim: Significant challenges to revive economy now

KUALA LUMPUR: Government adviser Daim Zainuddin said it is “far more difficult to revive Malaysia’s economy now” compared to his previous stints as Finance Minister.

“It’s far, far more difficult and complicated this time, because it’s the (previous) government that created the problem; a lot of money was wasted and stolen,” he said during an interview with Channel NewsAsia.

“I was asked to look into figures, analyse and send back to the prime minister. It will take some time before we can put the economy back to shape.”

His warning came after the World Bank last week slashed its 2018 GDP growth forecast for Malaysia to 4.9 per cent from a previous 5.4 per cent in April.

The World Bank also called on Putrajaya to drastically tighten its belt by cutting government spending to just 0.4 per cent of the GDP – from 5.4 per cent in 2017 – to rein in on its fiscal balance.

Daim was previously the Finance Minister back in the 80s and again during the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Following Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s reappointment as Prime Minister this year, he formed a Council of Eminent Persons (CEP) to discuss national issues and put forth recommendations to the government. Daim is the chairman of the CEP. “At the CEP, we have studied the proposal submitted to us on monetisation. We don’t advise to sell these assets directly to the market,” he said.