NAZIR VOWS TO SPEAK TRUTH AS MEMBER OF NEW COMMITTEE

New Special Economic Committee will address short and medium-term strategies to prop-up country’s ailing economy.

PETALING JAYA: Nazir Razak has said he will speak the truth about the country’s economic standing now that he has been included as a member of the Special Economic Committee (SEC).

Posting on Instagram a snapshot of an article appearing on the Digital Edge Daily featuring the ten “financial movers” of the SEC, Nazir, chairman of CIMB Group and the brother of Prime Minister Najib Razak wrote: “Expected a new committee, but not with me in it!

“Anyway, will speak truth to power & hope it will help Govt to steer economy through this turmoil, and lessen the pain.”

With many of his Instagram followers wishing him well and pledging their support for him, there were just as many saying they did not believe the SEC would amount to much.

In a Reuters article, Chua Hak Bin, economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch when commenting about the SEC said, “There are probably limits to what the committee can do, as a large part of the (stocks) sell-off reflects the politics and 1MDB (1Malaysia Development Berhad).”

Chua also told Reuters that the absence of central bank governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz was “disturbing” and would limit the committee’s options in reviewing economic policies.

The SEC will look at short-and medium-term strategies to prop-up the country’s ailing economy as global investor confidence weakens.

It would report to the prime minister once a week and function until the global economy stabilises.

Apart from Nazir, others on the committee are Nor Mohamed Yakcop, Khazanah Nasional deputy chairman; Azman Mokhtar, Khazanah Nasional managing director; Abdul Farid Alias, Association of Banks in Malaysia chairman; Andrew Sheng Len Tao, China Banking Regulatory Commission chief adviser; Mohamed Azman Yahya, Symphony Life Bhd chief executive; K Govindan, RAM Holdings Bhd chief executive officer; Noor Azlan Ghazali, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia vice-chancellor; Saw Choo Boon, Federation of Mala