The government has enough money to finance the Ninth Malaysian Plan (9MP) but the amount would be significantly less than what was spent on the Eight Malaysian Plan (8MP).

However, Deputy Finance Minister Tengku Putera Tengku Awang denied that government funds were running dry and attributed the reduction to the absence of any 'mega-projects' in the pipeline.

The 8MP was launched in April 2001 with an allocation of RM160 billion to spur the national economy that was still recovering from the effects of the 1997/1998 financial crisis.

Tengku Putera said presently, the national economic structure has recovered and is stable as all large-scale projects have been completed hence new 'mega-projects' were not needed.

"Thus, the allocation for the 9MP is less compared to 8MP," he told malaysiakini when met at his office in Putrajaya yesterday.

However, he did not say how much has been allocated for 9MP, which will be implemented in the next five years.

During the financial crisis, Tengku Putera said then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad spent large sums of money to revive the economy.

"But now, the position of our economy is stable and what the government intends to do is intensify all sectors for the country to be able to be on par with the increasingly competitive global economy.

"Not having 'mega-projects' does not mean that the country has no money, but it means that the government is spending based on the present needs," he explained.

Vision 2020

Tengku Putera claimed that the position of the Malaysian economy was far better than those of neighbouring countries and the United States.

"The national currency is strong and we have large reserves for development projects nationwide," he said.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who is also finance minister, will present the 9MP on March 31.

According to Tengku Putera, the 9MP was specially designed by Abdullah as a catalyst towards achieving Vision 2020 and making Malaysia a developed country.

"The 9MP does not stray from Vision 2020 but is it implemented with suitable strategies that is in line with the development of the global economy," he added.

On foreign investments, Tengku Putera said Malaysia was still the preferred choice even though China was becoming a competitive force.

However, he said Malaysia needed to be prudent as the Chinese economy was expanding rapidly.

In view of this, he added that Malaysia needed to attract more investors from technology-based industries instead of focusing on labour intensive industries.