PUTRAJAYA, 11 Dec 2008: Injecting a few billion ringgit into the country’s economy was not the answer in mitigating the current global financial crisis, said former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Speaking at a talk on Global Uncertainties and the Future of Malaysia here today, Mahathir said the country needed a proper plan by first understanding the problems and their causes.
The event was organised by Bridges, a non-governmental organisation. Its honorary chairperson, the Raja Muda of Perak, Raja Dr Nazrin Shah, also attended the event.
The talks were delivered Mahathir and the 2003 Nobel Laureate for Economics, Prof Dr Robert Fry Engle III.
“The [financial] crisis has to be studied carefully. We have to understand how it happened and how it affected us before drawing up a proper plan,” Mahathir said.
Mahathir said without proper planning, whatever efforts to find a solution would only be cosmetic. He also said the country need to resolve its political instability first before concentrating on economic problem.
He also doubted that Vision 2020, a plan to turn Malaysia into a developed country by the year 2020 could be achieved because of financial crisis and radical changes in the country’s policies and planning. — Bernama
