Bersatu leader: Large investments not reflecting country's economic reality

 

The large number of investments Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had announced does not necessarily reflect the country’s economic reality, said Bersatu information chief Razali Idris today.

Razali also questioned the actual percentage of investments which have been approved and realised by the government.

“Although it (investments announced by Anwar) is factually correct, the reality cannot be seen,” he posted on Facebook.

Citing the Department of Statistics Malaysia, Razali said Malaysia’s exports had decreased by 10 percent to RM118.5 billion in almost all states in December 2023.

Export values only increased in Kedah (RM850.4 million), Terengganu (RM673.6 million), Kuala Lumpur (RM539.8 million) and Pahang (RM58 million), he added.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim

Yesterday, Anwar announced that Malaysia recorded total approved investments of RM329.5 billion in 2023 which is 23 percent higher than in 2022.

Anwar, who is also the finance minister, pointed out this is the highest amount of approved investments in the country’s history and foreign investments were the main contributor at 57.2 percent, compared to domestic investments at 42.8 percent.

Rising cost of goods

Meanwhile, Razali said the reality is that the cost of goods has been rising amid stagnant wages and lukewarm job opportunities.

The prices of non-controlled items such as laundry detergents have gone up by RM2 to RM5.50 per bottle while the prices of condiments such as chilli sauce and tomato sauce have gone up by RM1 to RM1.80 per bottle, he claimed.

“I have not taken into account the prices of vegetables, onions, fish and chicken,” he said.

He added that this matter could be easily seen by the people who frequent the markets to do their shopping and went on to question when the prime minister and other ministers had last gone to a market.

He also said the people deserve to know which company had gotten the highest amount of investments as there were companies with bad reputations.

Besides that, Razali cautioned against comparing the current economic situation to its state in 2022 as the country was recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic at the time.