Malaysia’s Najib unveils budget amid protests
MANILA: Philippine officials sought on Friday to play down comments by President Rodrigo Duterte who announced his “separation” from the United States a day earlier, saying their country will maintain US trade and economic ties.
Duterte made his comments in Beijing, where he was paving the way for what he calls a new commercial alliance as relations with long-time ally Washington deteriorate.
He told Chinese and Philippine business people at a forum in the Great Hall of the People that America had “lost now”. Trade Minister Ramon Lopez sought to explain Duterte’s comments.
“Let me clarify. The president did not talk about separation,” Lopez told CNN Philippines in Beijing.
“In terms of economic ties, we are not stopping trade, investment with America. The president specifically mentioned his desire to strengthen further the ties with China and the Asean region which we have been trading with for centuries,” referring to the Association East Asian Nations.
He said the Philippines was “breaking being too much dependent on one side”.
“But we definitely won’t stop the trade and investment activities with the West, specifically the US.”
Duterte’s spokesman, Ernesto Abella, said the president’s announcement was a “restatement” on his bid to chart an independent foreign policy.
Duterte wanted to “separate the nation from dependence on the US and the West and rebalance economic and military relations with Asian he said, of South neighbours” like China, Japan and South Korea, Abella said in statement.
Underscoring that, the Chinese and Philippines defence ministers meet in Beijing on the sidelines of Duterte’s visit, and pledged to restore security ties, China’s Defence Ministry said.
Hundreds of left-wing demonstrators burned a replica of the US flag at a rally in Manila on Friday as they called for an end to US military agreements.
The US Embassy press attache in Manila, Molly Koscina, said Duterte’s statements were creating uncertainty.
“We’ve seen a lot of this sort of troubling rhetoric recently,” she said in an email. “We have yet to hear from the Philippine government what Duterte’s remarks on ‘separation’ might mean, but it is creating unnecessary uncertainty.”
She also said the US would honour alliance commitments and treaty obligations with the Philippines.
“And, of course, we expect Philippines to do the same.”
US Defence Secretary Ash Carter said Washington intended to keep to its alliance commitments to the Philippines. “Any relationship is one of mutuality and we will continue to discuss that with our Philippine counterparts,” he told reporters. — Reuters the KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak on Friday courted voters with cash aid and subsidies and pledged to cut the country’s large fiscal deficit to keep the economy on a strong growth track.
However, opposition lawmakers walked out of the parliament chamber calling the budget unrealistic and blaming Najib for the multi-billion dollar corruption scandal linked to state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
Southeast Asia’s second-largest oil producer and the world’s second-largest exporter of liquefied natural gas was left reeling from the slump in global crude prices late last year, forcing it to slash its 2016 budget in January and lower its growth target to 4-4.5 per cent.
Najib said the outlook was improving and expects growth to pick up marginally in 2017 to 4-5 per cent.
Spending will rise 3.4 per cent to 260.8 billion ringgit ($62.3 billion) next year, but the budget deficit would be cut to 3 per cent of GDP from a target of 3.1 per cent this year, he said. Ratings agencies have warned of a possible downgrade if the budget deficit is too large.
“We are now on the right track, as we have and are taking firm, bold and right decisions despite the measures being unpopular,” the prime minister said in his speech in parliament.
“We have laid strong foundations for the country’s long-term financial and economic position.”
The prime minister was widely expected to present a populist budget to shore up support ahead of possible early elections that he may call in 2017.
Najib also announced an allocation of 6.8 billion ringgit to the government’s annual cash handouts programme. He said 10 billion ringgit would be set aside for subsidies next year.
The government’s housing programme for first time homebuyers would be expanded, while a special fund of up to 3 billion ringgit would be allocated for investment to small- and mid-cap companies.
Malaysia’s stock market, the ringgit currency and government bond yields were largely unmoved.
“In our view, it remains a fine balancing act to maintain fiscal prudence and growth, with oil as the wild card,” said Weiwen Ng, analyst at ANZ Research.
The budget was overshadowed by criticism from opposition leaders over the financial scandal tied to state fund 1MDB.
RAMON LOPEZ Trade Minister