‘LISTEN TO ANWAR, HE WAS FINANCE MINISTER’: SURE KHAIRY, BUT HOW GOOD OR IS IT HOW LOUSY ANWAR WAS EVERYONE KNOWS – JUST LIKE HOW GOOD OR BAD A PM ‘SLEEPING BEAUTY’ PAK LAH WAS BEFORE ‘WORLD’S BIGGEST KLEPTOCRAT’ NAJIB OUSTED HIM

KUALA LUMPUR – Former minister Khairy Jamaluddin today urged Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng to heed Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s caution against issuing statements that could spook the market.

Khairy, in echoing concerns expressed by the PKR de facto leader, said while he understood the need for Lim to be transparent about state finances, the economy could suffer repercussions if the minister continuously issued negative statements about the national debt.

“I understand if the minister feels the need to unearth and expose the malpractices of the previous administration,” Khairy told a press conference here.

“But as a minister of finance, investors and businesses will rely on his statements to make decisions so I think maybe it is best if he tries to change his approach.

“Anwar was finance minister before, so my advice is for him to listen to him,” he added. – https://www.malaymail.com/

Former finance minister Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah’s move to blame the falling stock market on government exposés had revealed his ignorance on recent events, said Damansara MP Tony Pua.

Pua said Tengku Razaleigh, who is a candidate for Umno presidency, should be well aware that the global equity market has been taking a hit in recent days.

Among other reasons, Pua pointed to the unrest in Italy, the potential China-US trade war and further rate hikes in the US.

“Tengku Razaleigh is at best ignorant, or at worst deceitful, in placing the blame of falling stock market on the finance minister’s exposés.

“For the month of June up until the 19th, the equity market in Bangkok, Singapore, Seoul and Hong Kong had all fallen by 5.0 percent, 4.2 percent, 3.6 percent and 3.3 percent respectively.

“Would Tengku Razaleigh blame (Finance Minister) Lim Guan Eng’s exposés for their fall as well?” asked Pua, who is on a six-month contract to assist the finance minister.

He said the KLCI had fallen by only 1.5 percent in the same period.

Tengku Razaleigh had told Astro Awani yesterday that the Pakatan Harapan administration’s definition of national debt which placed the sum at RM1 trillion and the string of exposés on the financial scandals by the previous administration had hurt the economy.

He said that it was not necessary to reveal the debt and that Lim’s statements on the country’s financial situation had caused “people to sell their shares” after losing confidence in the nation’s economy.

“As a result, various bodies including EPF have incurred losses, which is borne by the people. I think this is ultimately propaganda that does not benefit anyone,” said Tengku Razaleigh.

In response, Pua said that the Harapan administration does not intend to hide the truth, even if it hurts, because obscuring the truth by previous administrations had resulted in corrupt practices.

“The need to hide the truth assumes and presumes either guilt, of which the new Harapan government has none; or that Malaysians are too stupid to understand and comprehend the truth, which our government certainly do not subscribe to,” he said.