Set up national crisis panel to tackle economy, Anwar tells Putrajaya

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim speaks at a dialogue with youths at a hotel in Petaling Jaya today. The opposition leader has proposed a bi-partisan panel to tackle the economy. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Seth Akmal, January 18, 2015.

Ahead of Tuesday's revision of Budget 2015 as a result of the global oil price plunge and weakening ringgit, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has suggested that Putrajaya set up a bi-partisan National Crisis Committee to tackle the country's economy. 

The opposition leader said the committee should be tasked with monitoring commodity prices on a daily basis and be given the authority to execute measures to mitigate any negative impact.

"We want the government to come clean on the economic outlook for the nation.

"The people await the Tuesday announcement and expect serious and earnest efforts put in for the restructuring of the 2015 budget," he said at a press conference in Petaling Jaya before a dialogue session with youth.

Anwar proposed that the panel comprise both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat MPs, economists, market experts and other specialists.

His proposal of a national crisis panel is one of four suggestions he made to Putrajaya to tackle the plunging prices of oil and the weakening ringgit.

He also proposed that the BN-led federal government be prepared to introduce austerity measures if oil prices plunged further.

The prices of Brent crude oil have dropped by 53% from last year, from an average of US$108 per barrel in January last year to about US$51 this month, and experts expect the price of the commodity to plunge to an average of US$40 per barrel.

At the same time, besides the Japanese yen, the ringgit is the weakest Asian currency, depreciating to RM3.55 against the greenback from RM3.32 a year ago.

Anwar, who is Permatang Pauh MP, said this means Putrajaya needed to cut back on mega projects while continuing to spend on critical areas, such as healthcare, education and humanitarian assistance for flood victims in the northeastern states of the peninsula.

He said other oil-dependent countries, such as Norway were already on "alert mode", running scenarios on the long-term effects of lower oil prices.

"It is true that the movement of international commodity prices is beyond our control. But surely we have control over how we spend our money and manage our overall finances.

"This is where the government is failing and continues to fail in spite of our repeated calls to do a reality check and put in place remedial measures. What have they been doing all this while? Is this the kind of attitude to showcase our drive for transformation?"

Additionally, Anwar said Putrajaya has to tackle corruption and plug leakage, pointing out that the opposition Pakatan Rakyat pact's 2015 shadow budget had noted a conservative saving of 15% in government spending leakage could save almost RM20 billion or 1.6% of the projected gross domestic product (GDP).

Finally, the de facto leader of PKR said Putrajaya needed to put a stop to the culture of wastage, opulence and spendthrift ways cloaked under shady procurement processes and opaque privatisation awards.

"The government must stop sweeping bad debts under the off-balance sheet carpet. There are no alternatives to good governance other than being transparent and truthful with information relating to the country’s finances."

He said Malaysians should  brace for tough times as growth slows and government spending could be reduced, advising the people to remain frugal and not take on additional unnecessary debts.

- TMI