Inappropriate to allege Anti-Inflation Task Force has failed - Annuar

PUTRAJAYA: It is not appropriate to accuse the Task Force on Jihad Against Inflation of failing in its job just because Bank Negara's (BNM) Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) has increased, said task force chairman Tan Sri Annuar Musa.

Speaking at a press conference after chairing the task force meeting here today, Annuar said matters concerning national monetary policies were not decided by the task force or the Cabinet but by BNM's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), which has an excellent record in economic management.

"It is not appropriate for a Member of Parliament to say the task force has failed because the OPR rose by 25 basis points. That's a very shallow way of evaluating the country's economic management," said Annuar, when commenting on DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng's call for the task force to be dissolved.

Last Friday, Lim urged Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob to dissolve the task force, claiming that it was ineffective, inefficient and irrelevant in stemming a rise in prices of goods.

Citing BNM's statement that the OPR hike was due to inflationary pressures, Lim, the Bagan MP, said this basically refuted Annuar's claim that inflation was under control in the country.

BNM on Sept 8 increased the OPR by 25 basis points to 2.50 per cent, the third consecutive rate hike made by the central bank.

Annuar said certain countries had taken more drastic steps by raising the OPR by 75 basis points due to high inflationary pressures but in Malaysia, the process of restoring the OPR to a stable level was done gradually with a 25-point increase each time.

"There is no need to doubt the action taken by MPC because they take an overall view of the scenario to ensure the country has a good monetary policy," said the Communications and Multimedia Minister.

Annuar said the task force would remain committed in combating inflation although it was not an easy job.

He said the task force was not created on an ad hoc basis because it was established based on a Cabinet paper prepared by the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) in the Prime Minister's Department.

"There should not be any passing the buck. The Cabinet has decided to hold the bull by the horns and micro-manage every problem faced by the people," he said, adding that all quarters should cooperate instead of working in silos.

On concerns regarding depreciation of the ringgit, Annuar said the worries were actually on the drop against certain currencies, especially the US and Singapore dollars against which the ringgit had weakened by seven per cent and 3.9 per cent respectively.

However, he said the ringgit had strengthened against the currencies of certain trading partners, gaining 15.5 per cent over the Japanese yen, 8.2 per cent over the British pound, 7.3 per over the Korean won and 4.4 per cent over the euro.

"To those who understand the need to look at the overall value of currencies, our performance in that aspect is good. But compared to the US dollar, it is a fundamental matter which BNM is constantly studying and making certain adjustments including regulating the OPR increase," he said.

-- BERNAMA