Leaders’ statements can impact country’s economy - Expert

SHAH ALAM – Economists believe that every comment made by the country’s leaders will impact investors’ judgments about whether or not to continue investing.

Universiti Kuala Lumpur economic analyst Associate Professor Dr Aimi Zulhazmi Abdul Rashid said the first thing that investors look at was political stability.

He stated that any official announcement would impact the decisions of individuals or firms investing in this country to some extent.

“After hearing the explanation, investors will most likely decide whether it is good for the country or not,” he told Sinar Harian on Thursday.

On June 21, Sinar Harian reported that former Rembau Member of Parliament Khairy Jamaluddin said that the more Deputy Minister Finance Minister 1 Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan talked about the economy, the faster it would collapse.

He commented that Ahmad’s statements about the economy were as if there was a huge announcement to ensure the ringgit’s worth was stronger.

At the same time, Aimi stated that there were two ways to improve the ringgit’s value in the global market, the first was to attract Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWF) to invest in Malaysia.

He explained that among the venues in which investors might invest were the stock exchange, venture capital and company start-ups which focused on the digital economy, as well as investments in research and development.

“The benefit of attracting foreign SWFs is that it will indirectly increase foreign investment into the country.”

“This will reduce the government’s financial burden in constructing the national economy, particularly in dealing with high risks associated with start-ups,” he stated.

He also said that while SWF had a tougher investment management operation, it was more reliable and had long-term goals.

Meanwhile, Aimi told that the second way was to use a family office, a private corporation that managed investment and wealth for wealthy families.

He stated that the private funds owned were open and invested in high-risk enterprises since the management funds were flexible.

Simultaneously, he said that while the influx of foreign investment through SWFs and family offices would be beneficial to the economy, it must be controlled and assisted by the Securities Commission and Bank Negara Malaysia.