I did not hide economic facts, says Tengku Zafrul

PETALING JAYA: No economic facts were hidden from anyone, says Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz.

In a statement issued on his official Facebook account on Sunday (Feb 20), he referred to a report given to National Recovery Council (NRC) chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

"The facts in the report are facts that have been said repeatedly to Cabinet and the public. I have never hidden anything in any press statement, explanations in any forum, answers in Parliament or in reports to agencies like Bank Negara," said Tengku Zafrul

"As the NRC chairman, he (Muhyiddin) needs reports to make the right decisions to help the Prime Minister to bring Malaysia to post-Covid-19 recovery," he added.

He was commenting on claims made by former prime minister Muhyiddin, who said that Malaysia's financial situation is not as what it is painted by the federal government based on a current report received from Tengku Zafrul.

Tengku Zafrul explained that his Ministry had highlighted the Fiscal Responsibility Act since last year to prevent issues such as 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), Suria Strategic Energy Resources Sdn Bhd (SSER) and others from recurring.

In the Facebook post, he also shared links to published articles written by him on the government's intention to introduce the Act.

During the launch of the Perikatan Nasional election machinery in Johor Lama on Friday (Feb 18) Muhyiddin had said that the country's situation was not as rosy as it seemed.

"I had asked the Finance Minister to deliver a report. I will leak it in time on the position of our national finances," said Muhyiddin.

On this, Tengku Zafrul said people were generally aware of the country's economic situation due to the negative impact brought about by Covid-19.

He added that the main focus at the moment is to drive the country's recovery in order to restore the livelihood of the people.

He said this would be achieved through creating new employment opportunities, attracting investment into the country and providing assistance to businesses as well as other strategies as outlined in the JaminKerja and SemarakNiaga initiatives in Budget 2022.

"We are now on the right path in which economic activities, be it from the macro, businesses or individual perspectives, are in the process of recovering based on several indicators such as employment market and others," said Tengku Zafrul.