Amirsham: Our economy not under threat

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Amirsham Abdul Aziz, today rejected claims that the country's economy was under threat in the wake of a global economic crisis, saying Malaysia was well-equipped to weather the storm.

In response to a question by Raime Unggi (BN-Tenom) on whether the government had any alternative plans to manage the country's unstable economy, including fluctuating fuel prices and inflation, the minister said the economy was still healthy and not under threat from the global crisis.

"Our banking system is still strong, credit facilities are widely-available, liquidation remains high and our non-performing loan rate is below 2.5 percent," Amirsham said, adding that the relevant authorities were closely observing the financial sectors to prevent external pressures from adversely affecting the country's economy.

The minister also backed the 2009 budget which was tabled last August, saying the expansionary budget strategy would encourage economic growth rather than discourage it.

'Do we have alternative plans?'

However, P Ramasamy (DAP-Batu Kawan) was not convinced by Amirsham's explanations, suggesting instead that the government come up with an alternative plan to manage the crisis.

"Do we have any alternative plans to face this crisis like the United Stated, United Kingdom, Europe or Singapore? All we have in Malaysia is alternatives for cronies!" he exclaimed to cheers from fellow opposition MPs.

Amirsham was not affected by the barb, going on to stress that the country did not need alternative plans as the existing budget would provide adequate economic growth unlike what the "opposition leader had suggested".

His statement was in reference to Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim's call for a fresh budget that addressed the current economic crisis.

Yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, who is also finance minister, had said some changes would be made to the budget in light of the latest economic situation but rejected suggestions of a new one.

Najib added that additional economic measures would be announced next Monday to manage the current crisis.