KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 18 — Fiscal discipline and systematic management of the national economy have enabled the ringgit to record the best performance in all of Asia, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
He said the strengthening of the ringgit against the United States dollar has been very encouraging, with an increase of 8.2 per cent as of Friday (November 14).
“From a domestic perspective, this is certainly due to the policies we have implemented from the start, namely targeted subsidies (whereby) we stopped subsidy funds that would not directly benefit the lower-income Malaysians.
“That is why our targeted subsidy measures, such as for RON95, have had a very positive impact on the ringgit,” Anwar said during the Minister’s Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat today.
He was responding to Tebrau MP Jimmy Puah's query on the primary factors driving the ringgit’s strengthening and how this appreciation can help overall economic development, particularly for the benefit of the people.
Anwar, who is also the Finance Minister, said that encouraging government-linked investment companies (GLICs) and government-linked companies (GLCs) to play a role in national development is an appropriate and justified move.
“South Korea and several European countries, including the United Kingdom, have also adopted similar measures. This means our decision is the right one, not conflicting, although some of our economists have questioned it,” he said.
