Govt will maintain transparent policy despite market reaction: LGE

PUTRAJAYA: The Pakatan Harapan (PH) government will maintain its transparent policy in when divulging information on government expenditure despite negative reactions on the stock market following country's latest debt revelation, said Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng (pix), today.
"The methods of the previous government in not disclosing its expenditure to the people will not happen again. I believe the rakyat deserve to know what happens," he said, after attending his inaugural Finance Ministry (MoF) monthly meeting here today.
"Being transparent on the country's expenditure and economic conditions would, in turn, boost investors' confidence," he added.
Lim also expressed confidence that the government will be able to honour the debt obligations in relation to national sovereign fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), which will result in positive signals for the financial markets.
The government, he stressed still have funds to pay the debt and is committed to resolving the issue.
"We will honour our international obligations and this will reassure the market that this government knows what it is doing.
"The government is market-friendly and we follow international financial norms," he said.
Lim said the stock market's shock reaction to the government's transparency on the state's financial position could be a possibility for the recent losses on Bursa Malaysia.
"It is up to the market to determine whether being transparent is the cause, but it is not only in Malaysia that the stock market has fallen," he explained.
He said this is not an anomaly as other developed nations have experienced similar shocks in their stock markets.
"Looking at Thailand, the United States and other countries, there are other stock markets that have fallen, hence there are other international factors as well. In the meantime, the stockbrokers or analysts can see whether this is only in Malaysia or it is happening regionally or globally," he added.
However, he maintained that the Pakatan Harapan government accepts all views and will be receptive to criticism.
"But of course we will keep an open mind and take all views and accept criticisms," he said.