ANWAR Ibrahim’s economic agenda in his debut year in power has displayed a promising outlook. However, economists also pointed out that the upcoming year will be challenging, and there is still more hard work to be accomplished.

They said Anwar will need to tackle the challenges of rising living costs, inflation control, boosting salaries, and reducing unemployment in 2024.

They also said that the prime minister, who is also the finance minister, must explore solutions to eliminate poverty, enhance the export of services, and establish an economy that centres around the halal industry and Islamic financing as mooted during the midterm review of the 12th Malaysia Plan and are considered crucial aspects of the prime minister’s economic agenda.

Putra Business School MBA programme director Ahmed Razman Abdul Latiff said there are positive indications of macroeconomics such as controlled inflation and a low unemployment rate.

“The agenda is to have positive indicators and improvement. Our gross domestic product in every quarter has shown growth. Employment, or labour, has improved.

“The challenge next year is to offer better cost of living for the people, to lift the standard of living, fix the overall salary issue and to lower household debt,” said the academic.

In July, Anwar announced the Madani Economy framework aimed at boosting the economy.

“It is about elevating the status and dignity of our nation with two main focuses: restructuring the economy towards making Malaysia a leading Asian economy, and ultimately providing the people benefits to enjoy a better quality of life,” he said at the launch of the initiative.

Another academic, Barjoyai Bardai, said Anwar had come up with plans or proposals to fix the economy but they have yet to yield results.

The Al Medinah International University accounting, Islamic banking and finance professor said Anwar’s economic plans are all short-term, adding that the prime minister must deliver long-term solutions.

He nevertheless agreed that the country’s economic growth has shown positive feedback.

“Anwar has proposed one of the biggest projects that is the flood mitigation project, which is said to cost more than RM10 billion.

“He is also proceeding with the ECRL project as well as there are plans to continue the high-speed railway construction. There is also the Sabah-Sarawak highway project. The only thing is that the work progress is slow.

“We have also heard about his plan to fix household issues and the cost of living. Overall our economy is booming. Next year, I’m looking at 4% growth and this will be helped by the tourism and construction sectors,” said Barjoyai.

Food security issues

When questioned about what lies ahead for Malaysia in the coming year, Barjoyai said the country’s economy might be impacted by the ongoing conflicts between Russia and Ukraine, as well as Israel and Hamas.

“Because we are an open market, we will feel the side effects of these wars. This year our exports of electronic devices and semiconductors dropped, I expect this to continue in 2024.

“When exports drop, our production will also drop and this will have an impact on our economy.

“We will continue to import foodstuff because we have not been able to solve our food security issues. Next year will be more challenging,” he said. – December 28, 2023