Malaysian PM announces measures to strengthen economy

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said Monday in Putrajaya that several measures will be carried out by the government to support and strengthen the economy amidst the challenging situation.

Najib said that the government will reactivate ValueCap, a state equity investment firm, with a fund of 20 billion Malaysian ringgit (about 4.6 billion U.S. dollars) as a measure to stabilize the financial market.

"ValueCap was established in 2002 as an entity to support undervalued stocks and the result was effective as it managed to stabilize the stock market," he said.

The prime minister also urged the government-linked companies and private companies to use their profits gained from investments abroad to invest in high multiplier projects at home.

Najib said that the government will also take measures to further promote tourism, including adding an allocation of 80 million Malaysian ringgit (about 18.5 million dollars) for intensified promotional activities in selected markets, such as the ASEAN countries, China and India.

He said that visa exemption will also be provided to tourists from China who entered in a group starting from Oct. 1, 2015 to March 31, 2016. The e-visa system will be introduced to facilitate the issuing of visas to tourists from the major visitor countries, he added.

Najib also reiterated that the government did not have plans to impose capital controls given that both the banking system and the capital market are now more resilient and able to cope with economic uncertainty. Endi