Jonathan Chai
KUCHING: Bank Negara Malaysia should intervene and look into ways to ease restrictions on lending to enable more property buyers to take up loans, says Sarawak Business Federation president Jonathan Chai.
He said the local property market is currently sluggish, much like in other parts of the country, with unsold stock piling up.
“We need to revive the construction industry as it is the prime mover of our economy,” Chai told The Borneo Post yesterday when asked for his take on the current state of the country’s economy.
He also said the corporate sector is disappointed by the recent announcement by Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng on the federal government not reducing the corporate tax rate in the next national budget, which is due to be tabled in Parliament on Oct 11.
He added that business owners are also hoping the federal government would not revise the statutory minimum wage in the next couple of years – at least for Sarawak – in view of the different standards of the cost of living in the state compared to Peninsular Malaysia.
On the ongoing trade war between the United States and China, Chai said it has exacerbated an already weakened global economy, affecting nearly every country across the globe including Malaysia.
“China is our largest trading partner; we will definitely be affected should its domestic demand continue to shrink. Worse still, the prices of oil and commodities like palm oil, pepper and rubber are not doing well of late.
“Our rural economy depends very much on the performance of commodities prices as those are the livelihood of the smallholders and farmers,” he noted, saying if the people are not doing well financially, then their spending power would also be reduced.
On the shelving or revision of several mega projects in Sarawak by the federal government, Chai said those projects could have provided some much needed business opportunities that could serve as catalysts for the local economy.
“Fortunately, our state government has tabled a larger-than-usual budget for this year with much focus given to the development in rural areas and infrastructure development. Some spinoffs would be expected from these projects.”
He also stated his belief that Sarawak is heading in the right direction by transforming its economy into a digital-based one.
On the setting-up of the Sarawak Trade and Tourism Office Singapore (Statos), he said it would give Sarawak’s economy a boost as Singapore, which is a global trading hub, could serve as an effective platform for Sarawak products to go into the global market.
He was also pleased to note that the Sarawak government has plans to establish a similar office in Pontianak and possibly Bangkok.