KUALA LUMPUR: The government’s more inclusive and sustainable policies are now reflected in the bullish local stock market, Permodalan Nasional Bhd chairman Tan Sri Abdul Wahid Omar said.
“It was always the government's main concern to ensure that the economy remains sound with more inclusive and sustainable policy making.
“We have seen now and continue seeing that those decisions are now being reflected in Bursa Malaysia when we breached the 1,800 psychological levels,” Wahid told reporters on the sidelines of Invest Malaysia 2018 here today.
He was responding to Najib’s keynote address at the investors conference attended by more than 1,000 local and foreign delegates.
“The Prime Minister had given a very important message in terms of progression achieved by Malaysia since 2009,” Wahid said.
On the ringgit re-pegging call by certain quarters, he said the government had consistently said that pegging the ringgit to the US dollar had never been an option.
“The government had always maintained that they will not peg the ringgit and given the performance of the economy, there's no need,” he added.
Wahid noted that Malaysia’s strong gross domestic product growth of around 5.7 per cent last year, was reflective of growing business confidence of both locals and foreign investors. This translated into the strengthening of the ringgit.
“We have seen the ringgit now strengthening. And this is why we hope the corporate sector will do well in 2018 to enhance revenue, optimise their costs and generate more returns for shareholders.
“What we see in Malaysia right now is a total holistic package where the macroeconomy, monetary policy and of course, strong performance of the corporate sector. All these aspects are very important (to keep the ringgit strong)” he added.