Reasons for my concerns about the Malaysian economy

First of all, let me say that I feel sorry and bad that my video on the Malaysian economy caused so much fuss that it disturbed the crucial work of the minister of finance. He has much more important things to do than to respond to a TikTok video, and I regret that. But at the same time, I have to say this is a remarkable level of responsiveness by a government official to public concerns, and that's very assuring. And I very much appreciate the minister taking the time out of his schedule to keep the public informed about the economy. The whole world is suffering the consequences of the war in Ukraine and the sanctions against Russia, and Malaysia is facing a number of economic challenges like everybody else, and this is what raised my concerns.

When I read that, for instance, Malaysia's current balance is moving towards deficit as of next year and that borrowing may be necessary to cover government operating expenses including government salaries, it makes me concerned. When I read that Malaysia's government revenues are down by 25,000,000,000 ringgits in the 2022 since the 2021 and that fiscal expenditures already exceed government revenues by 1,800,000,000.0 ringgits, that makes me concerned. When I read in June that Malaysia's foreign reserves saw the largest drop in seven years and that as of August, they're only sufficient to purchase less than six months worth of imports. It's concerning. Now that number in and of itself isn't that alarming because it's still just above Malaysia's short term external debt, which is fine.

But it's concerning because we're still in the grips of continuing inflation around the world. The prices of goods and commodities continue to rise. So being just barely at the level of your external debt, short term external debt, is a little risky because the costs of goods and services from outside keep going up. So my concerns have been based on the reported facts in financial reports that are publicly available and based on the trajectory of the global economy as the war in Ukraine continues and the sanctions against Russia continue. So the world is facing energy shortages, food shortages, commodity price rises, inflation, disruption to supply chains, and so on, which is why I said that I pray the leaders are able to manage the nation's resources using the expertise I know is available in Malaysia.

And that whoever wins the upcoming general election, I pray that they are brilliant economic strategists. I was very relieved to hear the respected minister of finance categorically confirmed that the government has not sought the advice of McKinsey or any outside foreign consultancy firm to put in place their post COVID economic recovery plan. That's very good news. And I was doubly relieved to hear him unequivocally reject taking money from the IMF. I think we all know how crippling IMF loans can be to any country.

So for that. May Allah bless Malaysia and guide its leaders to help them steer the country to the bright future that the people deserve.