Mahathir says he is optimistic over Malaysia’s recovery

Dr Mahathir addressing the PNB Corporate Summit (Bernama)

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia’s Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the new government has been working overtime to re-energise and clean up the mess left behind by the previous administration, with the road to recovery visible now.

Addressing the Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) Corporate Summit 2019 here today, the prime minister noted the government has instituted crucial reforms to enhance stability, strengthen fiscal management and enhance corporate governance and transparency.

Nonetheless, he said, the government continues to be weighed down by the debt that it was saddled with by the previous administration.

PNB is a Malaysian government-linked investment company established to re-engineer the economic imbalance in the Malaysia society.

Dr Mahathir said while the government has taken steps to address this, it will take time to improve the country’s fiscal situation.

“It has been one and a half years now since the government changed. As we uncovered more and more, we saw how Malaysia’s potential was squandered. But we can also now see the road to recovery ahead,” Dr Mahathir said, quoted by national news agency BERNAMA.

Dr Mahathir underscored that the government remains committed to undertaking necessary initiatives to achieve the primary goal of restructuring the economy as one that is progressive, knowledge-based and empowering Malaysians.

To achieve this, the prime minister said that it is imperative that the private sector takes the lead as a key driver of the economy.

Dr Mahathir pointed out that the ‘reboot’ carried out by the government has seen some semblance of normalcy returning into the system of governance and administration.

“Given the symbiotic relations between the government and the private sector, without doubt, corporate Malaysia will need the reboot as well and we believe as the government gets back on track, so will the corporate sector,” he said.