Rafidah backs Guan Eng on transparency, says real investors will stay

INTERVIEW | Last week, when Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng confirmed that the country’s debt level exceeded RM1
trillion, many were concerned about the effect of such an announcement on the stock market. 

These concerns appeared to be validated when the Bursa Malaysia subsequently dived, leading to more calls for Lim to tone downon his incendiary remarks about the economy.

Former international trade and industry minister and trained economist Rafidah Aziz, however, is unperturbed by such concerns.

Known for incendiary comments herself, she said she fully supported Lim’s move to be transparent about the country’s financial standing.

“Whenever he makes a statement, I say, ‘That is correct!’. I always tell him, ‘Good statement, Guan Eng!’.

“To me, it’s better to know the facts and lay them all out, whether you like it or not.

“Who are we pleasing, the analysts or the rakyat? What is more important?

“They (analysts) want us to sugarcoat everything, that is not right. We are not here to make people feel good you know, we are here to make people understand ‘this is it’.

“But not only do we present the story, we need to tell people that we are moving to rectify it as well,” she said in an exclusive interview with Malaysiakini.

Rafidah also rebuked those who criticised Lim (photo) for conflating the country’s debts and liabilities together to arrive at the RM1 trillion figure.

“Look, liabilities are debt, okay? Hutang (debt) is hutang lah, there is no need to split hairs over this. Do we have to pay for them?

“In English, you call them debt and liabilities, what do you want to use in Malay other than call them hutang?” she said, visibly irritated.

Lim previously said that he had “called a spade a spade” in stating RM1 trillion figure, which he further explained was made up of RM686.8 billion in debt, RM199.1 billion in government guarantees as well as RM201.4
billion in lease payments and projects.

Though a challenge, he assured that the government was prepared to overcome these debts and believed that investor confidence would strengthen over time.

Foreign investors who pulled out will return

Among the most vocal criticisms against the announcement of debts was made by the ousted prime minister and finance minister Najib Abdul Razak (photo), who said Pakatan Harapan’s move had caused sharp falls in the stock market. 

Rafidah disagreed with being transfixed on the peaks and troughs of the stock market.

Instead, she advised focusing on retaining the “real investors” capable of bringing sustained growth to the economy.

“Why are we only looking at the stock market investors? That is hot money. That will not sustain the economic strength of the country. Why not have a stable stock market that increases reflecting the real fundamentals of
the economy?

“The real investors who are here for the long term, who understand how Malaysia is going to be governed from now on, will stay.

“We are talking about people who come here and bring money to set up IT outfits for the long term, like what we did with manufacturing (in the 1990s).

“We are more interested in real investment inflows that stay for the long term, and that become multiple investments as they go on,” she said.

Rafidah added she was confident that foreign investors who had since pulled out of the country would return after Harapan’s reform agenda bore fruit.

Beyond Vision 2020

In her 21 years of helming a ministry that became almost synonymous to her, Rafidah had steered the country through various trade deals and oversaw the manufacturing boom of the 1990s.

She recalled being seated next to Dr Mahathir Mohamad (photo) when he launched “Vision 2020” back in 1991, and pondered upon how the country would have achieved the vision if only it had stayed on track.

“At that time, we thought, ‘Wow, 2020 will take so long, thirty years’.

“But we didn’t expect the last ten years to be such rubbish. Had he (Najib) plodded along as we did, of course, it (Vision 2020) would have been realised.

“How were we supposed to know that this debt crisis (would happen)?

“I wouldn’t say crisis, I don’t want to spook anybody. I’m just saying, anybody who says an RM1 trillion comprehensive debt is not a problem must be dreaming, you must be living on a different planet!” she quipped.

Rafidah also shared how back when she was deputy finance minister, from 1977 to 1980, the country had been able to pre-pay its multi-million loans from the Japanese.

In light of the significant financial situation faced by the country now, she advocated doing away with the 2020 “deadline”.

“The future is infinite until doomsday comes. To me, I am very positive about the future of Malaysia. So don’t talk about the future as if it will be in 2020. You’re talking to somebody who does not believe in deadlines and all that.

“[...] We should be happy to know that the government is trying to get this debt rationalised, it’s an ongoing process and I mean it’s not like we are hoping (they solve it) tomorrow.

“As long as the government is aware and can manage it, that’s most important,” she said. -Mkini