Anwar govt 'indifferent' to handling economy, says Muhyiddin

The Anwar Ibrahim administration seems indifferent to handling the country’s economy, especially in matters concerning the rising cost of living.

Perikatan Nasional chairperson Muhyiddin Yassin made this claim today, citing the “negative level” of the Producers Price Index (PPI) to a decrease of 1.3 percent in December 2023 as compared to a 1.5 percent contraction in November 2023.

“The government seems indifferent in handling what is happening.

“After more than a year, the issue keeps happening and no concrete steps are being taken to alleviate the people’s anxiety,” said the former prime minister in a statement today.

“The negative PPI level is proof that the country’s economy is worsening, and at unhealthy levels. If the government continues to lead this way, I worry that the country will fall into a worse situation, economically,” he added.

The PPI measures the prices of goods at the factory gate.

In revealing the numbers recently, chief statistician Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the downtrend was attributed to the mining sector, which fell by 3.4 percent (November 2023: -4.7 percent) due to the decline of extraction of natural gas (-7.8 percent) and extraction of crude petroleum (-1.9 percent) indices.

‘Extraordinary’ steps needed

Muhyiddin elaborated that the situation would affect traders and consumers who are already burdened by the rising cost of living.

“At this stage, the government should be taking immediate ‘extraordinary’ steps to address the issues faced by traders who are still struggling to recover their businesses.

“However, this is not happening. Instead, we get the falling ringgit, plunging exports, rise in the prices of imported items, and weakened domestic consumer purchasing power,” he said.

The negative PPI will also cause manufacturers to limit their working hours, raw material, and production chain, the Pagoh MP added.

According to Muhyiddin, this would eventually lead to layoffs and weakened saving capacity among the people due to lower income levels, which in turn would impact the country’s economy.