Digi business marketing and operations head Steven Soon (second from left) delivering his speech as (from left) Johor South SME Association advisor Teh Kee Sin, RHB Bank Bhd commercial banking head Azlina Safian and PKT Logistics Group Sdn Bhd chief operating officer P’ng Tean Hau look on duri...
One for the album: (From left) Teh, Soon, Azlina and P’ng posing for photograph after their panel discussion session at the SOBA LAB programme at Trove Hotel in Johor Baru.JOHOR BARU: Digitalisation is the way forward for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and they have to start planning now,...
Unofficial figures show that some 300,000 Malaysians commute daily from Johor to Singapore to work. — FilepicJOHOR BARU: The state government is looking at the positive angle when it comes to the high number of Malaysians, including Johoreans, working in Singapore.Johor education, human resour...
An SME expo showcasing the productsKUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's small business sector experienced positive business conditions in 2018 and confidence in business and economic growth is at its highest point since 2012, according to new survey data released today by CPA Australia. The findings from CPA A...
KUALA LUMPUR: Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) should capitalise on the RM517mil funding made available by Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Bhd’s (MIDF) and Malaysian Technology Development Corp (MTDC) under the Soft Loan Scheme for Automation and Modernisation (SLSAM).MIDF group ma...
PETALING JAYA: Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng is tabling Budget 2019 in Parliament, the first federal budget by the Pakatan Harapan government.The tabling of the Supply Bill (Budget) 2019 will commence before Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof, and will be debated by the Members of Par...
IQI: Malaysia's Current Economic Environment Attracting Foreign Investors
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 27 (Bernama) -- The state of Malaysia's economy, coupled with no undue government intervention in it, has made the country an attractive destination for foreign investors, said International Quality Investments (IQI) chief economist, Shan Saeed.
"Looking at the economy from a foreigner's perspective, I believe government intervention (in Malaysia) is unnecessary and this has (actually) maintained confidence among investors. Malaysia will continue to grow and attract investor inflow.
"Confidence has become the most important non-variable in the macro economic equation.
"When some European banks introduced the zero-interest-rate-policy (ZIRP), it did not help stimulate the economy going forward nor attract investors, and this is not what is happening in Malaysia," he added, at the "Gold as a Safeguard Against the Ringgit's Decline," seminar here today.
Naming Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark and also Japan as countries that introduced the ZIRP, he said they face a lot of challenges in the current environment and more volatility in the global financial market, with this volatility continuing until 2020.
He also said the introduction of the ZIRP was positive for the gold market as investors won't keep their money in banks.
"They will concentrate more on gold, silver and real estate instead," he added.
Asked about the ringgit's performance, Shan said the local currency depreciated 17 per cent against US dollar in 2015.
"If the downtrend continues this year, it would not be a surprise, as other currencies have also fallen. I expect the ringgit to be at between RM4.40-RM4.50 to the US dollar by year-end.
"This is also due to the performance of China's renminbi which will fall to between 10-15 per cent, as well as oil prices.
"I foresee oil prices rebounding to between US$50-US$60 per barrel, while trading at US$30-US$40 at present," he added.
On the Federal Reserve raising interest rates, Shan said this is unlikely and opined that the first hike in December 2015, was based on a "market panic" situation.
Meanwhile, earlier in his presentation on gold, he noted that the favoured metal served as a counter balance against the ringgit's depreciation, while helping balance other asset classes.
Gold, as a safe-haven investment is expected to continue its uptrend going forward, particularly when the current equity and bond markets are volatile.
"Commodities will remain on the radar of investors due to unpredictable government policies, high levels of sovereign and negative policies and quantitative easing, which will keep asset classes in an artificial zone," Shan said.