In a recent interview with The Star, prominent economist Prof Jomo Kwame Sundaram revealed that the weakness of the ringgit is caused by some “powerful” speculators and Malaysians who hide their assets abroad.
AMANAH Youth urges Bank Negara and MACC to investigate and reveal the names of all the individuals who caused the ringgit to weaken. Regardless of whoever they are, whether a Tun, Tan Sri or Datuk, they should be publicly named and shamed.
Prof Jomo also mentioned the Panama Papers scandal as a source of illegal outflow of national wealth. Perhaps many have forgotten, among the individuals involved in the Panama Papers are the sons of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Dr Mahathir’s brother-in-law was also listed in the Panama Papers, which involved more than 2,300 Malaysian citizens and companies.
Panama Papers is just one example. In the Pandora Papers controversy, Dr Mahathir’s ally – Tun Daim Zainuddin – is reported to have assets abroad worth tens of millions of pounds sterling, through his children, wife and cronies.
If it is true that the country’s wealth is siphoned out illegally, which ultimately depresses the ringgit, the individuals involved are “despicable traitors to the country”. The actions of Malaysians themselves who are speculators and the cause of the weakness of the ringgit must be severely punished.
PM Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has given his commitment that the outflow of illegal money will be eradicated as stringent as possible. AMANAH Youth fully supports this noble effort which is very important to strengthen the ringgit and the Malaysian economy.
Prof Jomo has also confirmed that the weakness of the ringgit so far is not due to the weakness of the country’s economic fundamentals. I believe, with the “reform” or economic reform under the MADANI Government, the ringgit and the Malaysian economy will rise to a better level than before.
In fact, just in the last one week, the ringgit has strengthened by almost 3% against the US dollar. The stock market has also seen a recovery trend where the KLCI index has jumped to above 1,400- point level and the inflow of foreign funds is recovering. In the week ending July 14 alone, the net inflow of foreign funds was RM571 million.
