Morning Brief

The Labour government led by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese unveiled their second budget this week, projecting the first surplus in over a decade. What does the budget say about the government’s policy priorities? We discuss the highlights of the budget and the outlook for the economy with Catherine Birch of ANZ Bank

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The government is studying policies for a progressive wage system. We discuss the factors contributing to Malaysia’s slow pace of income growth and what’s needed to accelerate the pace to achieve high-income nation goals with Nithiyanathan Muthusamy of Khazanah Research Institute (KRI).

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The government is studying policies for a progressive wage system. We discuss the factors contributing to Malaysia’s slow pace of income growth and what’s needed to accelerate the pace to achieve high-income nation goals with Nithiyanathan Muthusamy of Khazanah Research Institute (KRI).

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The government announced that it was lifting the ban on renewable energy exports. What are the implications of this for Malaysia’s energy sector? We get reactions from Dhana Raj Markandu, independent energy analyst & consultant.

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The tech war between the US and China is throwing havoc on the Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng Index. China’s recovery was expected to drive up markets, but the year has been mixed so far. To make sense of this, we talk to John Lau, Portfolio Manager, AHAM Capital on his views on China’s markets, economy and policies moving forward.

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The EPF has been constantly in the news since the pandemic hit in 2020 - from the various special Covid-19 withdrawal schemes to proposals to allow members to use their savings as collateral for loans. More recently, a workers’ union group wants employers’ EPF contribution increased from 13% to 20%; and PM Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim wants the fund to increase its domestic investments from the current 64% to 70%. Independent business writer P Gunasegaram unpacks what all these mean.

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The EPF has been constantly in the news since the pandemic hit in 2020 - from the various special Covid-19 withdrawal schemes to proposals to allow members to use their savings as collateral for loans. More recently, a workers’ union group wants employers’ EPF contribution increased from 13% to 20%; and PM Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim wants the fund to increase its domestic investments from the current 64% to 70%. Independent business writer P Gunasegaram unpacks what all these mean.

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The Deputy Prime Minister has signalled that the government is looking to pen an agreement with the UNHCR regarding its roles and responsibilities for refugees and asylum seekers. We discuss the policy implications of this with Lilianne Fan of Geutanyoe Malaysia.

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Big Tech’s pandemic boom of the past 2 years was marked by double to triple growth rates. Fast-forward to 2023 and we are seeing Q1 results of between 3% to 9% for giants like Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft. Dan Ives, Managing Director of, Wedbush Securities, helps us sift through the analyses of the outlook for the US tech sector, amid the industry’s heavy cost-cutting exercises.

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The World Health Organization announced on Friday May 5 that Covid-19 is no longer a global health emergency, and immediately drew mixed reactions and emotions from health experts and stakeholders alike. Dr Khoo Yoong Khean, Scientific Officer, Duke-NUS Centre for Outbreak Preparedness helps us dissect these fractions and share his thoughts on how we should move forward in this pandemic phase.

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