Lim criticised over ‘strong economy’ statement
PETALING JAYA: Former Cabinet ministers have hit out at Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng over his recent statement affirming that the country’s economy was strong.
They said Lim had painted a gloomy picture on the state of the country’s economy before the last general election but was now full of praise for it.
Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said it was time for Pakatan Harapan to admit that Barisan Nasional handed over a country with a strong economy.
“Before GE14 (the 14th general election), none of the Pakatan Harapan leaders admitted that Malaysia’s economy was strong and well. Not even once.
“There was only Lim praising the strong Penang economy and at the same time, claiming that Malaysia is going bankrupt and people are becoming unemployed, although Penang is still part of Malaysia and not a foreign country,” he said in a Facebook post.
Najib said Lim’s special officer Tony Pua issued a statement two years ago saying that Malaysia had lost its competitiveness and no country wanted to import Malaysian products.
This was despite the fact that Malaysia’s exports were increasing strongly at that time.
Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong also hit out at Lim, saying that the country’s solid economic foundation was the result of Barisan’s efforts.
The MCA deputy president and former minister in the prime minister’s department said the Pakatan Government should actually work hard to ensure a better economic growth for the country.
“Before GE14, he said that Malaysia will go bankrupt and after becoming Finance Minister, he said the country has over RM1tril debts.
“Now he admits that the country has a fundamentally strong economy,” Dr Wee said.
Former Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin also took a jab at Lim on Twitter.
“Strong and resilient in a period of four months. Congratulations. The 60 years before this was all ruin.”
On Monday, Lim said in a statement that Malaysia’s economic strength can be seen from eight different factors and these reasons collectively have helped to make the FBM KLCI one of the best performers in Asia Pacific to date.