KUALA LUMPUR: The opposition's act of sending misinformation to damage the country's economy is unfair to the rakyat and the business community, said Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
The prime minister said there had been a concerted campaign by the opposition to feed lies about the country's economy, stoking fears of an economic disaster in Malaysia for their own political objectives.
"The word of the opposition cannot be relied on. Just recently, a leading member in one party said that, if Malaysia had such good relations with Saudi Arabia, why was the hajj quota not increased?
"But it has! Twice this year, from 22,230 to 27,900 and then up to 30,200.
"That is another example of the benefits this government's policies bring to the people. In this case, our foreign policy of forging friendships abroad, instead of holding grudges for decades, the way a certain former leader still does.
"But you won't hear about the very real benefits from our engagement with Saudi Arabia, China, India or anywhere else from the opposition. In fact, they will tell barefaced lies about it, just as they have been feeding lies about the economy and stoking fears of economic disaster in Malaysia.
"There has been in fact been a concerted campaign to send such miainformation overseas to damage Malaysia's economy for their own selfish political objectives," Najib said during his keynote address at the launch of Invest Malaysia 2017 this morning.
Also present were International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani, Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa, and CIMB Group chairman Datuk Seri Nazir Razak, among others.
Najib, who is also the Finance Minister, also urged the people who receive such lies or read them in publications that do not check facts properly, to be careful.
During his keynote address, Najib also took a jab against the opposition's promise to abolish the Goods and Services Tax.
Saying that the tax has helped the country in its bid to steadily reduce the deficit, he questioned where would the opposition produce the RM41 billion collected in GST revenue last year.
"If GST was abolished, it would not just be a matter of revenue shortfall. The deficit would rise from 3.1 per cent to 5 per cent.
"Our ability to fund the construction of schools, hospitals and other essentials would be affected.
"Government debt would rise above our self-imposed level of 55 per cent of Gross Domestic Product. Our sovereign credit ratings would then be downgraded. Lending costs for all, such as loans for personal use, for business and housing, would increase.
"The people would suffer, and they would suffer directly."
Najib said the opposition's promise to abolish GST was another example of what the latter would do when faced with tough decisions.
He said they would seek the easy and populist way out regardless whether it makes sense or is even possible.
The prime minister also criticised former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who is now the chairman of the Pakatan Harapan opposition coalition, saying that the rakyat had to pay very high price under the latter's leadership so that "a few of his friends benefitted."
Najib said under today's government, they were cracking down on crony capitalism, and would not allow any more sweetheart deals nor allow any more national follies to continue just to stroke the ego of one man.