Govt seeking balance in ringgit's value , says Anwar

Photo: Bernama

NILAI: In an effort to overcome the problem of the ringgit's depreciation, the government is seeking to strike a balance so that the country's interest rates will not cause foreign investors to take their money out of the country, says Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

The Prime Minister said the drop in ringgit was linked to the country's low interest rates, and if the government raised the interest rates too much, it would burden small and medium companies.

"If I have RM1mil, I want to put it in a bank. I have a choice of Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. Singapore and Indonesia, which have high interest rates.

"So, I choose to save it outside (Indonesia and Singapore). That is our problem now," he said at the "Program Temu Anwar Negeri Sembilan" at Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) here on Saturday (June 24).

He said this when answering a question from a Form Six student identified as Adriana, who wanted to know what the government was doing to strengthen the country's currency.

Anwar, who is also Finance Minister, said although faced with a declining ringgit, the country's economic growth continued to rise in the first quarter of this year, surpassing that of Singapore, Indonesia and China.

"If would have been different if our economy had dropped, with a drop in the ringgit's value, lower investment and lower growth. But that was not our case. Our investment is good at RM71bil in the first four months. We just have to find ways to bring back investments with several incentives.

"I say setting up a financial hub in Johor is one way. Then MM2H (Malaysia My Second Home) to bring in people who can bring in money and several more which I announced last week. We are thinking of several more measures," he added.

However, Anwar admitted that it would not be easy to attract more investments into the country because foreign investors still have a perception of instability in the country following rumours that there might be a change of government this August.

"It is good that people (investors) are more confident in me than them. They say if Anwar is still leading, they have confidence the government will be stable. If others take over, they will withdraw. I'm not campaigning for the Unity Government but this is a fact," he said. – Bernama