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Wednesday, July 13, 2011

TIM: Corruption has caused a drop in buying power

SUBANG: Corruption stemming from Malaysia’s rife patronage politics is the one of the major causes of the country’s fall into the middle income trap and low purchasing power, Transparency International Malaysia (TIM) chairman Paul Low said today.

Low also said many of the unpopular government policies such as subsidy cuts and goods and services tax (GST) are also the byproducts of decades of corruption under the ruling government.

He said the power buying of the people is far behind other countries like South Korea and Singapore which were once at par with Malaysia economically but have since moved ahead due to good and accountable governance.

“Prior to the 1998 economic crisis, we have been recording a steady growth of 7% for 10 years straight,” Low said at the group’s regional programme meeting on corruption in the private sector here.

“If the same capital investments were given to Sweden, our studies showed they (Sweden) will record a growth of 13% instead,” he added.

The ruling Barisan Nasional government had made the battle against graft a key policy, admitting that corruption is continuing to damage Malaysia’s economic appeal.

Two administrations – that of former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and current Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak – have made the fight against corruption the pillars of their leadership.

But Malaysia’s continuous slip in the corruption performance index has placed the government’s graft fight under severe public scrutiny while the opposition was quick to dismiss the reform policies as mere political stunts aimed at winning votes.

Low said corruption is already neck deep while the need to finance political campaigns has led to charges of a dirty relationship between the business community and the government.

“That’s why you see most businesses are politically owned,” he said.

He called for reform in political financing and urged a law be passed forcing businesses to disclose political donations in order to create more accountability.

He also called for stronger enforcement and will power, saying that the two aspects are key in implementing good and transparent governance.

Low said the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has been tarnished by various controversies and initiatives like the setting up of corruption courts have failed to convince the public that the government is serious in fighting corruption.

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