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. - Mkini
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