Morning Brief

The oldguards of Malaysian politics, namely Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin have been meeting separately, setting tongues wagging on the likelihood of potential collaborations ahead of GE15. We decode the signals with political analyst Professor Datuk Dr Shamsul Amri Baharuddin of the Institute of Ethnic Studies (KITA). Image credit: Shutterstock.com

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Bank Negara’s Financial Stability Review for Second Half of 2021 report revealed that household debt grew at a slower pace of 4.1% year-on-year as at December 2021 and the household debt-to-GDP ratio declined to 89%, however our household debt remains on the higher end as compared to our peers in this region. But what can we do to lift ourselves out of this debt situation? Dr Juita Mohamad, Director of Economics and Business Unit and Acting Director of Research of IDEAS shares her thoughts with us. Image credit: Shutterstock.com

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Bank Negara’s Financial Stability Review for Second Half of 2021 report revealed that household debt grew at a slower pace of 4.1% year-on-year as at December 2021 and the household debt-to-GDP ratio declined to 89%, however our household debt remains on the higher end as compared to our peers in this region. But what can we do to lift ourselves out of this debt situation? Dr Juita Mohamad, Director of Economics and Business Unit and Acting Director of Research of IDEAS shares her thoughts with us. Image credit: Shutterstock.com

On Friday, April 1st the land border between Malaysia and Singapore was fully reopened for the first time after two years of pandemic restrictions. We discuss the impact of the prolonged border closure and how soon traffic could return to pre-pandemic levels with economist Walter Theseira of the Singapore University of Social Sciences. Image credit: Roninjin/Shutterstock.com

The oldguards of Malaysian politics, namely Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin have been meeting separately, setting tongues wagging on the likelihood of potential collaborations ahead of GE15. We decode the signals with political analyst Professor Datuk Dr Shamsul Amri Baharuddin of the Institute of Ethnic Studies (KITA). Image credit: Shutterstock.com

While the US economy ended 2021 with its GDP expanding at a healthy 6.9% in the fourth quarter, the momentum has slowed significantly amid a surge in Covid-19 infections at the start of the year, disrupted supply chains and soaring inflation. All eyes are on the pace of Federal Reserve monetary tightening this year. We discuss the economic scenarios with Preston Caldwell of Morningstar. Image credit: Shutterstock.com

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April 1st — April Fool's Day — sees Malaysia opening its international borders while loosening Covid-era restrictions, hopefully equating to more social activities, including at comedy clubs. Rizal van Geyzel, comedian & co-founder of Crackhouse Comedy Club, discusses. Image credit: Shutterstock.com

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Bank Negara Malaysia, in the Economic & Monetary Review 2021 report released this week, said that the cost of living in Malaysia needs structural reforms on both income and cost aspects. It also stated that short term measures such as price controls may pose repercussions on a long term basis. But what structural reforms should we be considering? Dr. Geoffrey Williams, Economist at Malaysia University of Science and Technology shares his thoughts. Image credit: Shutterstock.com

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PWC has recently released the findings of their Act Now to Recover (“ANTR”) survey, that was conducted between June and July last year, which revealed how the pandemic has impacted business owners in Malaysia and how they have navigated through the challenges of recovery. So, what are the biggest issues that keep business leaders awake at night and are the concerns still primarily cash conservation? Surendran Seelan, Deals Director (Business Restructuring Services) at PwC Malaysia tells us more.

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April 1st — April Fool's Day — sees Malaysia opening its international borders while loosening Covid-era restrictions, hopefully equating to more social activities, including at comedy clubs. Rizal van Geyzel, comedian & co-founder of Crackhouse Comedy Club, discusses. Image credit: Shutterstock.com