KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 19 — A DAP MP today urged Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to openly reprimand Deputy Youth and Sports Minister, Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal.
In a statement, Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim Chee Keong said Muhyiddin should order Wan Ahmad to retract his proposal that Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) should print more money and directly hand the cash to Malaysians.
The deputy minister made the suggestion during an interview with business radio station BFM yesterday.
In the same statement, Sim pointed out that the idea caused the collapse of the German economy, which in turn led to the rise of Nazism and Adolf Hitler.
He also urged Muhyiddin to gag Wan Ahmad from speaking on economic-related issues.
“No economic idea is worse than printing money because ultimately, our currency will not be even worth the value of the paper it is printed on. To protect the value of our currency and assure investors of the economic competence of the government, the prime minister must immediately reprimand and instruct Wan Fasyhal to withdraw his irresponsible remarks and stop talking about the economy.
“Germany is the classic example of how printing money after the Great War led to hyper-inflation, the collapse of its economy and society, leading to the rise of fascism, Nazism and Adolf Hitler. Those who read history should know what happened to the world with the horrors brought by Hitler.
“Wan Fayshal’s suggestion to print money displayed his economic naiveté. He ignores basic economics of the disastrous consequences of loss of confidence in the monetary system, hyper-inflation and the ultimate collapse to the economy,” Sim said.
He pointed out that money supply can be increased not through its printing but through quantitative easing (QE) by buying bonds or purchasing assets, adding however then even QE measures must be used judiciously and are ineffective in a low interest rate regime.
Sim said that the problem at present is not to do with funding, but the government’s overtly conservative approach towards spending.
He added that the passing of the Covid-19 Bill in the Dewan Rakyat, which included the raising of the debt ceiling, is a signal to the government that “we are willing for the government to borrow more to fund a higher deficit.”
“My advice to Wan Faysal is, he should instead focus on the Youth and Sports ministry which is about to receive nearly 20 per cent budget cut in the 2021 Budget. This is definitely bad news to the youth and sports sector, amidst the triple blow health-economic-political crisis we are facing,” Sim said.
