Wake up Madani government, honeymoon period is over - Wan Ahmad Fayhsal

SHAH ALAM - The Madani government needs to realise that the honeymoon period is over and that the government needs to attend to serious business.

This was the remark made by Perikatan Nasional (PN) Youth deputy chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad as he expressed his worries about the high overnight policy rate (OPR) and weak ringgit.

"Wake up Madani government, wake up from sleep, the honeymoon period is long over.”

"I still remember that on June 6, 2023, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, was being arrogant and told the opposition to accept the OPR increase which was supposedly to strengthen the ringgit, but after several months of burdening the people with OPR at three per cent, the value of the ringgit is worsening.

"Before that in mid-June 2023, Anwar announced a measure to overcome the ringgit's decline. The reality is ringgit is still weak," he wrote on Facebook post today.

Wan said that the current situation is burdening people's lives as many had made loans from financial institutions.

On the same post, he had also recalled that during Perikatan Nasional (PN) time as the government, domestic exports exceeded the country's imports.

However, Wan informed that domestic exports are now below the national imports from January 2023 to July 2023 for every month.

In the meantime, he said that both the ringgit and domestic exports weakness are no surprise since the cost of living has been soaring.

According to him, the National Bank often reports that the country's Exchange Rate Pass Through (ERPT) is high for industrial equipments, electrical tools, spare parts and food costs.

"The traders who are in those goods-related industry complained a lot that they had to choose between raising prices or incurring huge losses.

"Therefore, the government must work in an emergency mode. Don't hesitate anymore. The Malays had given a warning by rejecting Pakatan Harapan (PH) in the recent six state elections," he said.