Investors not impressed with PH’s economic policies

KUCHING: The government of Dr Mahathir Mohamad has offered little of substance in terms of new economic policies, which has encouraged capital outflow from the country.

According to the Nikkei Asian Review in a report said, this along with some government’s policies contributed to the ringgit losing against the US dollar and a further dip in the share market.

The report further said two months after Pakatan Harapan won power, capital was flowing out of the country because investors were not convinced that Mahathir would be able to chart a viable growth path.

Notably, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (FBM KLCI) dropped after Mahathir took the reins and has since fallen nearly 10 per cent.

The report said although escalating trade tensions between the US and China had weighed on Asian stocks more broadly, “the new government’s policies hastened the decline in Malaysia”.

Among these, it said, were the scrapping of the Goods and Services Tax and the reassessment of major infrastructure projects decided upon by the previous government.

The report said the government had offered little of substance in terms of new economic policies but that Mahathir had, instead, revived policies from his previous stint as prime minister from 1981 to 2003.

This includes possibly establishing a new national automaker and a renewed Look East Policy.