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KUALA LUMPUR: All political appointments are made on the basis of qualifications, experience and experience as part of good governance, Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz said today.
He said these appointments must go through selection processes by agencies such as Bursa Malaysia, the Securities Commission, Bank Negara Malaysia, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the police.
This, he said, is in line with the 2017 Malaysian Corporate Governance Code.
“I would like to emphasize that the government is committed to ensuring best governance practices at all times,” he told Dewan Rakyat.
The opposition had previously raised concerns about political appointments in government-linked companies (GLC), saying it could be a way to reward loyal politicians.
Tengku Zafrul was responding to Lim Guan Eng (PH-Bagan), who asked the minister to declare steps taken to address Fitch Ratings’ decision to downgrade Malaysia’s credit rating.
Lim said that even though the 2021 budget focused on maintaining the country’s credit rating through fiscal consolidation, “it fails to overcome the drop in credit metrics, especially political stability, and the lack of adoption of good governance and transparency “.
He said this can be seen in the directors who are replaced in the GLC by political appointments.
On December 4, Fitch Ratings downgraded Malaysia’s sovereign rating from “A-” to “BBB +”, with an improved outlook from negative to stable.
Tengku Zafrul said that international credit ratings have imposed more than 220 negative ratings since the beginning of March, including downgrading the sovereign ratings of more than 100 countries, including the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Chile and Laos.
He said that although the review of Malaysia’s rating does not go against the current global trend, Putrajaya has expressed his official opinion that the decision did not consider the implementation of economic stimulus packages that have led to signs of economic recovery.
It also said that Malaysia saw a minor contraction of gross domestic product of 2.7% in the third quarter of this year, “which is among the best in Asean”, compared to a contraction of 17.1% in the second quarter. .
Tengku Zafrul said that the wage subsidy for 2.8 million workers has also reduced unemployment from 5.3% in May to 4.7% in October.
He said that Fitch Ratings has projected Malaysia’s growth at 6.7% next year, which is in line with the country’s own projections, showing that confidence in the economy will skyrocket again.
