Not fair to expect boldness from Tengku Zafrul, says ex-EPU man

 

Saiful Bahari Baharom says it is unfair to expect ‘revolutionary changes’ from Tengku Zafrul Aziz given that the government lacks a strong mandate from the people.

PETALING JAYA: Complaints that finance minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz has not been bold enough in his first 100 days have received flak from a former special officer in the Economic Planning Unit.

Saiful Bahari Baharom, who was also Labuan International Business and Financial Centre chief executive, said expecting Tengku Zafrul to be bold was misguided.

“If the prime minister and Tengku Zafrul introduced major changes or reforms now, it could be used by political enemies to overthrow the government.

“This will also go against the order of the King, who wants a stable government heading into the next general election,” he said in a Facebook post today.

He said it was unfair to expect “revolutionary changes” given that the government lacked a strong mandate from the people and the finance minister, a senator, lacked the political backing that his predecessors enjoyed.

Recently, several economists had given the finance ministry’s first few months under Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob a tepid response, singling out Budget 2022’s lack of innovation and continuation of existing policies as a particular disappointment.

Saiful said the biggest key performance indicators for Tengku Zafrul were ensuring that the government’s budget deficit was not too wide and balancing increased spending due to the pandemic with the inflow of Treasury revenue.

“That’s what critics should focus on, instead of overhauls and reforms.”

Juita Mohamad.

Juita Mohamad, of the think tank the Institute of Strategic and International Studies, told FMT that the budget for next year had the right priorities.

“The ministry has announced the two biggest budgets in the last two years to combat the negative impact of the pandemic and lockdowns.

“I feel that the latest budget stresses on recovery and inclusivity for next year.”

She said the government must continue reviewing its delivery of aid to make sure targeting and distribution can be improved upon.

Juita also referred to Tengku Zafrul’s earlier comments on the need to plug leakage of government funds.

She hoped the minister could provide regular updates on his ministry’s work to this end. - FMT