PUTRAJAYA: The Economy Ministry is monitoring geopolitical developments following the United States’ arrest of Venezuela’s former president, Nicolas Maduro, which led to a recent decline in crude oil prices, says Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir (pic).
The Economy Minister said Putrajaya would still wait to see the impact of the controversial arrest of Maduro, who was recently brought to the US to face a slew of charges relating to narco-terrorism, conspiracy, and drug trafficking.
But Akmal stressed that Putrajaya must focus on its economic plans, such as the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) and the 13th Malaysian Plan (13MP), which would run from 2016 to 2030.
“Coming to 2026, geopolitics will be a challenging situation that we need to put in our consideration.
“But, at the same time, we need to focus on strengthening our economic deliverables, such as the 13MP and other plans, such as the JZ SEZ, which are in place,” said Akmal.
“I think everyone is still waiting to see the impact from that event. For the Economy Ministry, our focus is to ensure that Malaysia’s plan for the next five years will take place, and we must focus on the execution,” he added.
Historically, Malaysia has been significantly dependent on oil and gas revenue, and at one point, PETRONAS revenue accounted for over 40% of Putrajaya’s total revenue.
In Nov last year, the Economy Ministry said the government had reduced dependence on petroleum-related revenue to about 16.9%, down from 28% in 2022.
On Saturday (Jan 3), US President Donald Trump announced that his country’s forces had captured Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores in a dramatic overnight military attack that followed months of rising tensions.
On Jan 6, Maduro was brought to a US Court, where he and his wife pleaded not guilty to drug and weapon charges.
Since Maduro’s capture on Saturday, the United States has made several announcements about Venezuela’s oil, which is the world’s largest known crude oil reserves.
On Tuesday (Jan 6), Trump announced that Venezuela would be “turning over” between 30 million and 50 million barrels of “sanctioned oil” to the US.
The following day, Trump announced a deal to import up to US$2bil worth of Venezuelan crude oil.
After Trump’s announcement, crude oil prices fell on Wednesday (Jan 7). Brent crude futures closed down 74 cents at US$59.96 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate Crude fell $1.14 to US$55.99 per barrel.
