Morning Brief

This week in Parliament, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said that the government is willing to relinquish its discretion in appointing the chief commissioner of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to Parliament. How will placing the MACC under the parliamentary purview improve its independence? We discuss measures needed to strengthen the anti-graft body's role with Sudhagaran Stanley of the C4 Center.

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The repercussions and the speed at which the banking crisis unfolded took many by surprise. On paper, the relatively conventional model of Asia Pacific banks should have shielded the region from some of the market turmoil emanating from such events. However, some second-order effects on the region still remain a concern for the region. Alicia García Herrero, Chief Economist for Asia Pacific at Natixis tells us what we should look out for.

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Malaysia transitioned from a pandemic economy to an endemic one on the 1st of April. How has business sentiment changed in the intervening year - are SMEs more hopeful or anxious about the economic outlook? Datuk Irwin Cheong of Industries Unite reflects on how businesses have been coping post-pandemic.

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Bank Negara’s annual report was released yesterday, projecting that Malaysia would reach economic growth of between 4 to 5% this year. But what’s in the fine print? We parse the details of the report, including BNM's assessment of the health of Malaysian banks, with Julia Goh of UOB Malaysia.

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Bank Negara’s annual report was released yesterday, projecting that Malaysia would reach economic growth of between 4 to 5% this year. But what’s in the fine print? We parse the details of the report, including BNM's assessment of the health of Malaysian banks, with Julia Goh of UOB Malaysia.

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It’s been a lively week for Alibaba Group, the Chinese e-commerce giant worth 220 billion US dollars. Its boss, Jack Ma made an appearance in China after being absent for 3 years. This was then followed by the shock announcement that it would split into 6 business units, marking the biggest restructuring in the company’s 24 year history. Brock Silvers, CEO, Kaiyuan Capital tells us his views of this.

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Last week Sri Lanka finally secured a USD$3 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after nearly a year of negotiations. Does this IMF bailout signal that the worst is over and how will Sri Lanka rebuild its battered economy? Dr. Chulanee Attanayeke, Research Fellow at the National University of Singapore discusses Sri Lanka's difficult path to recovery.

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The Bursa Carbon Exchange (BCX) was launched in December 2022 as part of national efforts towards reducing carbon emissions. Earlier this month on 16 March, the first auction of carbon credits was conducted involving two products featuring offsets from projects in China and Cambodia. Can the BCX gain traction and help Malaysia achieve its net-zero emissions goal by 2050? Dr. Pieter Stek of the Asia Business School gives us his assessment.

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The Bursa Carbon Exchange (BCX) was launched in December 2022 as part of national efforts towards reducing carbon emissions. Earlier this month on 16 March, the first auction of carbon credits was conducted involving two products featuring offsets from projects in China and Cambodia. Can the BCX gain traction and help Malaysia achieve its net-zero emissions goal by 2050? Dr. Pieter Stek of the Asia Business School gives us his assessment.

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The visit of Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Anwar Ibrahim to Saudi Arabia last week was a golden opportunity to elevate his standing as Muslim statesman, given the strategic importance of relations with the Saudis. However it has instead become political fodder for the opposition, after he met neither the head of state King Salman nor the Prime Minister, Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman during the visit. How damaging is the fallout from this trip for the Prime Minister, especially ahead of the state elections in June? Political analyst Dr. Azmi Hassan weighs in.

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