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Sunday, January 27, 2008

PM: Malaysia can ride out US recession

Fund managers especially Unit Trust managers shouldn’t exploit the scenario that the US equity markets were in trouble and immediately pressing down the prices. Bursa Malaysia was not spared, but fared better than other markets in Asia and has since recovered, closing on Friday at 1,405.40 points. Actions against the malpractices for the healthy investments is by far needed.

Although the US economy has been hit by rising mortgage defaults by "subprime" customers who were issued loans during the last housing boom despite patchy credit histories, but Malaysia's strong fundamentals and diversified trade links will shield it from a slowdown or recession in the United States.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said, "Yes, at one time we were very dependent on the US, but following our diversification efforts, Malaysia has started to export to other countries and is not as dependent on the US as before.”

Fears of a recession in the US sent shock waves through global markets in the days leading up to the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) and overshadowed talks which were supposed to centre around the theme "The Power of Collaborative Innovation".

Bursa Malaysia was not spared, but fared better than other markets in Asia and has since recovered, closing on Friday at 1,405.40 points, after a roller-coaster week.

The prime minister said Malaysia's trade with Asean was much bigger than that with the US, and it continued to expand trade links with China, Japan, South Korea and India.

"Our economy is also showing signs of resilience. Total trade is more than RM1 trillion, we have large reserves of US$101 billion (RM327 billion) and some 86 per cent of our GDP (gross domestic product) is from the strength of the domestic economy."

Abdullah said Malaysia's services sector was growing, the ringgit stable and the stock market strong with a market capitalization of more than RM1 trillion.

"Our economy is strong due to our forward-looking policies. If indeed there is a recession in the US, we can withstand it. And for this, we need a strong government.

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