With Pakatan Harapan (PH) winning “the mother of election”, analysts believe Malaysia’s growth will not be disrupted, reported Bernama.
This comes as the strong economic fundamentals of the country are intact and could withstand any possible knee-jerk reaction.
In fact, the previous downturns in the economy are due to external matters and not internal, said Dr Jorah Ramlan, Economic Analyst at Ramlan Pointon Consultants Sdn Bhd.
“Whoever is the government of the day, I can say that the economy has been progressing and will continue to grow,” she said. “What we need is continuity and governance. To me, these are more important to ensure economic stability.”
“They must understand. The fundamentals and factors for economic development should not be changed for popularity. Thus, I don’t think the economy will decline.”
With former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad leading the new government, PH won the 14th General Election after clinching 121 parliamentary seats against the 79 seats taken by Barisan Nasional (BN) as at 4:40am Thursday (10 May).
In its manifesto, PH laid out plans to increase minimum wages to RM1,500 by end of its term, with half of the hike shouldered by the government; provide one million affordable homes in 10 years; eliminate the debts of FELDA settlers; and gradually abolish highway tolls.
An Employees’ Provident Fund scheme for housewives is also set to be introduced with the government paying a monthly contribution of RM50 plus two percent salary contribution from the husband.
Regardless of the four-party coalition’s ambitious plans, Jorah called on PH to consider continuity of policies that are closely connected to Malaysia’s fundamentals, including consumption, spending, trade and foreign direct investments (FDIs), to raise the country’s gross domestic product.
Meanwhile, Datuk Dr Nazri Khan Adam Khan, CEO and Chief Investment Officer at Hermana Capital Bhd, expects a major reaction in the equity and forex markets in the near-term as investors fear of current policies being discontinued. Nonetheless, the market is expected to stabilise in two to three months after PH takes over Putrajaya.
“There will be a shift in rotation from sector-to-sector, from BN-linked sectors, which are mostly in hard infrastructure, construction and property, to soft-infrastructure sectors which are being championed by Pakatan,” he said.
This article was edited by the editorial team of PropertyGuru. To contact them about this or other stories email editorialteam@propertyguru.com.my
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