FORMER Bank Negara (BNM) governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz will replace Abdul Wahid Omar as Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) chief.

In a statement this evening, PNB said Zeti will be its new chief effective July 1.

“Zeti will be appointed as the group chairman of PNB with effect from July 1, 2018,” the statement read.

PNB also said that Wahid, a former minister in the prime minister’s department, will be retiring tomorrow from PNB.

“Wahid will be retiring tomorrow as the group chairman of PNB with effect from June 30,” the statement read.

The fund management company also announced that former deputy finance minister Awang Adek Hussin was retiring as PNB’s director.

“Awang Adek Hussin will be retiring as director of PNB.”

Wahid’s resignation as PNB chief was expected as he had already been sidelined by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Dr Mahathir and the Council of Eminent Persons did not take lightly to Wahid’s comments on defending the goods and service tax (GST) prior to the 14th general elections.

Wahid had served as minister in the Prime Minister’s Department from 2013 to 2016. He was in charge of the Economic Planning Unit before he was replaced by Abdul Rahman Dahlan in the June 2016 cabinet reshuffle.

Just two days before polling day, Wahid said scrapping GST will leave the government with three options that could hurt the economy – raising income tax or introducing a new tax such as the capital gains tax, increasing the country’s fiscal deficit to 5%, or reducing spending.

Zeti, who turns 70 this year interestingly sits on the Council of Eminent Persons after she left BNM in 2015.

Wahid’s exit has been seen by observers as Putrajaya systematically removing heads of GLCs who were linked to the previous Barisan Nasional government. – June 29, 2018.