Malaysia must focus on growth not austerity, says AirAsia boss

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's economy is currently in a good position so the government should focus on growth and not austerity, said AirAsia Group Chief Executive Officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes.

He said the government must focus on increasing its efficiency and productivity in order to grow jobs and be a driving force in ASEAN.

“Focus on those industries that can bring income quick, and technology and ideas that can bring big growth (for the country),” he added in his latest post on Twitter.

Fernandes said having economic growth would enable the government to handle its debt.

He also believes the ringgit will strengthen to about 3.80 against the US dollar soon.

Bank Negara Malaysia had announced that the Federal government debt totalled RM686.8 billion as at end-2017, equivalent to 50.8 per cent of the gross domestic product.

Subsequently, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said the Federal government debt and liabilities amounted to RM1.08 trillion as at Dec 31, 2017.

This included the RM686.8 billion in Federal government debt and RM199.1 billion of government guarantees to pay on behalf of entities, which were unable to service their debt, he said.

He said the government was also committed to RM201.4 billion in lease payments for rental, maintenance and other charges for public-private partnership projects such as the construction of schools, hostels, roads, police stations and hospitals.

Earlier in the Dewan Rakyat, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the government was considering securing a loan facility from Japan to reduce the 'high cost of money' as the interest rate on debt taken by the previous administration was too high at six per cent.

He said the value of the Japanese yen was cheaper than the ringgit with one yen equalling 1 US cent, while RM1 was worth 25 US cents, and repaying Malaysia's debt in the Japanese yen meant the country would not be burdened with a high interest rate of more than six per cent. - Bernama