Central bank the equity analyst?
Read Bank Negara Malaysia’s report on why the share prices have risen recently here. Hmmm… what about ‘hot money’? Surely that’s a factor. Call me cynical, but has the central bank been instructed to say this ahead of the general election, to increase the ‘feel good’ factor?
Read this report from a “proper” research firm for a different perspective.
I hope the central bank sticks to its job of managing the economy and not try to suck up to politicans…
You can’t have your cake and eat it…
On the one hand, Malaysia wants to portray herself as being an ‘open’ economy. She boasts about record international trade levels recently. On the other, she tells the rest of the world that all trade must be at her terms.
The most recent example is the Proton-VW saga. Now, anyone with an objective mind can tell you that Proton is dying (literally) to have a foreign partner but the powers that be are not willing to cede control. VW is supposed to transfer it’s technological know-how without being given a say over affairs of its investment. No one in his right mind would want to do that, let alone one of the biggest car companies in the world? If this was Ferrari, Aston Martin etc we are talking about, then it may be a different story, but Proton? While the ‘national pride’ issue is being debated, Proton is hemorrhaging. There may be nothing left when they finally decide to allow VW control over its investment…
Episode 2 is this. Read the deputy PM’s response here. Malaysia wants the EU to accept her exports and is also dying for some investment from EU, but is not willing to budge on the issue of foreign ownership. What does Malaysia have and what can Malaysia offer that she expects other nations to allow her access to their markets while accepting the NEP? For a start, with a population of merely 20+million, and a workforce that is relatively expensive, she can’t hope to compete against the likes of China and India or even Indonesia. Yes, she boasts of political stability but even this looks suspect recently…
Don’t get me wrong, I am not rooting for Malaysia to fail. However, I sometimes wonder if she may have rated herself too highly to think that she can have her way all the time. And when she doesn’t (get her way), she condemns the others and says that she’s being discriminated…
Perhaps it’s time for her to grow up and decide if she wants her cake or eat it…