A viral video by Clare Rewcastle-Brown confirming that UMNO had paid PAS a bribe of RM90 million raises many serious questions about the wild claims made by PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang that non-Muslims and non-bumis are the root of corruption in Malaysia. In the interests of accountability and transparency, Abdul Hadi should explain publicly.
Reports should be lodged against Abdul Hadi with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission(MACC) should Abdul Hadi refuses to explain paying Clare a sum of RM1.4 million after withdrawing his defamation suit against Clare for her claiming that UMNO had bribed PAS with RM 90 million.
To Reverse The Depreciation Of The Ringgit, Bank Negara Must Hike OPR By At Least 100 Basis Points Which Will Destroy Economic Growth And Close Down Businesses, Especially SMEs.
The ringgit crashed to a 24-year low on 6 September 2022 to 4.5015 per US dollar, its weakest level since January 1998 during the Asian financial crisis. Analysts attributed the weak ringgit to a stronger US dollar due to the expected large hike in interest rates by the US Federal Reserve and troubled domestic political risks caused by uncertainty over early general elections.
Bank Negara would have to raise the Overnight Policy Rate(OPR) by at least 100 basis points, and not just the expected 25 basis points, to reverse the rapid decline in the ringgit. Raising the OPR by at least 100 basis points would destroy prospects of strong economic recovery and close down businesses, especially SMEs.
Since raising the OPR by at least 100 basis points is not feasible and Bank Negara cannot match the aggressive large hikes in interest rates by the US Federal Reserve, there is no impact from raising the OPR by 25 basis points. Instead, this is a lose-lose proposition by Bank Negara when increasing the OPR by 25 basis points fails to achieve the desired result of reversing the decline of the ringgit and yet only burden businesses and individuals with additional costs on their loans on houses and vehicles, business costs, cash flows of traders and cost of funds of investors. Why then raise the OPR at all?