For the past 3 months we have heard many differing calls and views on the Malaysian economy in the face of the global financial turmoil. We have to be careful on what people are saying and their roles. Many of those who are the most vocal have vested interest, namely politicians and real estate developers. We have to regard those statements with a few bucket loads of salt.
I can understand it when property guys stay optimistic, they had to, you think they have any choice. No property guy will come out to say that they are doomed, they will first be lynched by fellow property players. There is probably an unwritten code among property players, when you have nothing good to say, shut up cause the rest are trying to reduce their inventory as fast as they can.
I would like to see a more sobering comment and leadership from the top politicians and top financial people in government institutions such as Bank Negara, MIER and even RAM and the like. I am not asking for them to give pessimistic views, I am asking them for clarity and realistic views. Do not try and instill a false sense of confidence in the people. I know that the rule book would call for a need to keep an optimistic view so that domestic consumption stays strong, but I also believe that a realistic view would help restore confidence that the people would know the government is handling the issue properly, and more importantly has a good handle on the issues we are facing. Time for sobering leadership.
Things are crumbling in the US and much of Europe. Many nations are already in a recession statistically, even some Asian countries. Malaysia is not in that boat (yet), but we also need to know why we are not there (yet). Is that inevitable? Can we dodge the bullet? Or are we deluding ourselves?
This is not 1997, it is not a financial crisis in our own backyard, hence we should not and will not feel the effects firsthand. For my life I cannot understand how those people out there can say Malaysia will not be affected or will be only marginally affected by this crisis. We will be affected because:
a) We do not have a big enough or strong enough domestic economy. If we had a population of maybe 80m-100m and domestic consumption makes up 65%-75% of our economy, maybe we can ride it out, but we are not.
b) If the turmoil is a short one, e.g. if the US and Europe will come out of this with positive growth by 2Q or 3Q 2009, then we can safely say we might only be marginally affected, but that is not the case here.
c) Our major trading partners are the US, China and Singapore. Of that, maybe China can still chug along and save us, but we are not supplying the right products in their enlarged fiscal stimulus (rail and infrastructure). We are rerouting a lot of exports normally to the US to China as partially finished products to be assembled or finished in China for exports. Well, some 60%-70% of China exports are really MNCs funded manufacturing / outsourcing concerns operating out of China - I don't think they will be unaffected.
Oil and CPO prices have crashed, and both help to boost our coffers. CPO prices affects CPO companies rather than the bulk of the population, hence we do not see great wealth effects when CPO is at RM3,000 and we will also not feel it that much if it goes to RM1,200. Oil would affect government coffers and the ability to fund our budget deficit. Some would scream that we are at a highish 4.8% deficit, but I am actually comfortable with that.
RM7bn stimulus is OK but will not be sufficient. I hope the government will add to it with another RM5bn at least, this time do it with a 2 percentage points cut in income tax. I know that will hurt government receipts but its a time to go further into deficit spending as the alternative is not nice. The other recommended measure is for the government to totally pay up on all bills and claims for work done within 2 weeks of invoice receipt. Governments (including state governments should lead the way to pay all bills, we all know that many bills are left unpaid or delayed for the longest time, bickering over amounts and maybe something else to happen... the trickle down effect will be substantive.
One big factor causing people to think things are hunky-dory in Malaysia is the stubborn property prices. I still think things will hit hard in the coming months when property prices start to come down. Property prices are already down substantially (about 15%-20%) in Singapore and Australia - granted thats also because the leverage and speculation there have been more rampant. The good thing is that speculation has been not as rampant in local property but that does not mean we are immune.
The biggest job losses will be in Penang with the high number manufacturing firms there, and watch the trickle down contraction. Oil and CPO price collapse does not hit jobs that much as the number of employees needed to run an oil company are not critical, or rather the revenue/employee is very high. Plus even at US$50, its still profitable and many suppliers and contractors are on long term contracts anyway. As for CPO, well, we know their cost is still around RM650-750 and you still need people to tend to plantations.
For impact, just take a minute to reflect on your job, how much does your company rely on strong foreign demand, how much does your company rely on domestic demand, now look at the demand outlook from both sides 3 months out and then 6 months out. Now take two of your close friends in different jobs, do the same exercise ... maybe you will have a better idea now.
Malaysia relies a lot on foreign investment and that will dry up over the next few quarters. Thankfully, Bank Negara has maintained good discipline and our reserves are at an enviable level, thus allowing the country many options to deal with this crisis better than many countries. For those who does not like a weak ringgit above 3.60 vs the USD, grow up, in times of global turmoil I'd rather have a weakened currency to maintain better competitiveness. A strong ringgit would have seen more industries collapsing outright. Plus we are in a deflationary environment, hence a weaker ringgit won't be importing inflation.
Lastly, while the stockmarket has lost substantial ground over the past 12 months, this time around the bulk of retail players have been able to sidestep the fall and is in fact quite cashed up. Nonetheless Malaysia has one of the highest percentage of GDP that is listed and stock prices have a large correlation to domestic consumption, we have yet to see the wealth effect coming through.
Do not be blinkered in that we have not yet seen the effects, by virtue of the makeup of this crisis, it will only hit us with a 3-6 month delayed effect.
p/s photo: JJ
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