Calling Pua the “prophet of doom”, Rahman said, “He doesn’t speak as someone who understands the economy, but simply as a politician.
“He has never had a positive perception about our economy as his job as an opposition leader is to give the people a gloomy outlook on our economy, and that we might be bankrupt.”
Rahman said this while at a site visit of the Expo Negaraku at Dataran Merdeka here.
He was responding to Pua, who earlier today ridiculed Prime Minister Najib Razak for his latest blog post that dwelt on the leader’s economic vision for the country, specifically state-owned investment fund 1MDB.
Najib had said 1MDB was “on track to realise a profit”, but Pua refuted this, calling it an outrageous claim.
“1MDB is currently an empty shell, holding absolutely nothing but some RM40 billion of debts.
“How in the world is 1MDB ‘on track to realise a profit’? If this is not a brazen attempt by Najib to create ‘fake news’, what is?” Pua said.
However, Rahman said Pua was using a typical opposition ploy to shape the people’s perception.
“For example, in 2009 or 2010, he said in Parliament that the empire of Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary would fall, and he would be bankrupt and that the government would have to bail him out with public funds.
“What we see today is, that didn’t happen, and his empire is strong,” he said, adding that DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang had been saying the country would go bankrupt for “the last 50 years”.
“You will see its potential in the real estate sector when these two projects bring in larger returns than the debts of 1MDB.
“Remember, even though 1MDB has been used many times by the opposition, the reality is that world rating agencies rate our economy well, and the world has a good perception of our economy.”
Rahman said if people believed Pua, they were indirectly saying that credit rating agencies had lied about Malaysia.
“If you believe the opposition, you are saying the World Bank is lying, and so are credit rating agencies like Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch Group.
“I, as a logical normal individual, prefer to believe the World Bank and these credit rating agencies that rate it highly.”
Rahman also spoke on “Najibnomics”, saying that the prime minister had not received the credit he deserved when it came to managing the country’s strong economy.
He added that Najib had led Malaysia to become less reliant on oil compared to the previous administration.
“In 2009, 41% of our budget was dependent on oil and gas. Now the figure is only 14%.
“These are Najib’s steps that minimise the effects of the world crude oil price plummeting. Imagine if we were still as reliant on oil. This proves his vision in managing our economy was sound.
“The fiscal deficit has reduced yearly and stands at 3.1%,” he added.
“This is an example of a disciplined leader. Najib should be judged by what he has achieved.”
Pua mocks Najib’s ‘1MDB on profit track’ claim
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