SHAH ALAM: The country's economic performance was better under the previous administration than the current Madani government, even though that was when the Covid-19 pandemic struck, claims Tan Sri Muhyidin Yassin (pic).
The Perikatan Nasional chairman and Bersatu president, who was also the eighth prime minister when he stepped down in 2021, said this during his keynote address at Bersatu's eight annual general assembly at the IDCC centre here on Saturday (Sept 6) night to more than 2,000 party delegates and observers.
"Despite taking over the country during an unprecedented crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic, Perikatan successfully restored the nation and made it better," he said.
He also claimed the Madani government, although inheriting a country in a much better and pandemic-free condition, only led the people and the country into a worsening state.
"Economic growth only recorded 144.4 % for the first and second quarters of 2025, which is lower than neighbouring countries like Indonesia.
"Bank Negara has revised its annual growth projection downwards to 4.0 to 4.8 %, compared to the earlier forecast of 4.5 to 5.5 %. This is evidence of the weak economic management under the Madani government.
"International trade and business activities have also declined. Trade surplus plummeted from RM28bil in December 2020 to only RM760mil in May 2025, the lowest level in recent history. "Retail sales growth also dropped sharply from 22.8% in Nov 2022 to only 5.4% in June 2025.
"Foreign direct investment fell drastically in the second quarter of 2025 to only RM1.61bil, compared to RM15.57bil in the first quarter of 2024, marking the lowest level since the third quarter of 2020.
"Under the Perikatan administration, recovery was faster and the economy was stronger even though the country was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.
"From a contraction of -16.9% in Q2 2020, the economy rebounded to 16.2% in Q2 2021 and 14.6% in Q3 2022. Overall, the economy, which contracted by -5.5% in 2020, recovered to 3.3% in 2021 and surged to 8.7% in 2022, exceeding initial projections.
"Trade balance under Perikatan was also strong. From RM25.3bil in July 2020, it rose to a record high of RM31.8bil in September 2022. Retail sales, which once contracted by -9.2% during the pandemic, soared to 56.4% in April 2021 and remained high at 38.4% in July 2022.
"FDI was also encouraging under Perikatan, increasing from RM6.1bil in Q4 2020 to RM12bil in Q2 2021, and then soaring to RM27.8bil in Q1 2022. Malaysia recorded annual FDI inflows of RM48.1bil in 2021, the highest since 2016, and it increased further to RM74.6bil in 2022," said Muhyiddin.
The Bersatu AGM will continue on Sunday (Sept 7).
