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A minister on TV earlier refutes chicken vendors’ assertion that there is shortage of chickens in the market by pointing out that chicken supply has increased by 120%. I wonder why he did not mention how high the chicken demand has increased as we enter Ramadan?
And oh boy. It annoys me to no end when people within the mainstream media as well as the government talk about prices without any understanding or worse, disregard of economics.
At 10 per cent — the official estimate — of the fuel subsidy, the Economic Planning Unit in 2005 characterised the illegal outflow as “akin to giving to foreigners the subsidies intended for Malaysians”. Now that our neighbours have reduced their fuel subsidies, it is perhaps time to stop subsidising them and to take away the incentive to smuggle out our diesel by aligning our prices closer to theirs. [Narrowing differentials. New Straits Times. September 11 2007]
Finally, it sinks in one of the local mainstream media. But does this mean there would be a fuel price hike in the future?
I refuse to believe that the NST says such thing out of “mere” economic rationale. The possibility of somebody higher up told them so simply appeals to me. The NST is a government’s mouthpiece after all. If that is so, it would definitely be an odd move however since the general election expected to be just around corner. Or maybe, election is not so close after all!
The recent budget in my opinion itself might not be as populist as the previous ones, despite what I wrote preemptively. Hmm…
I have stated earlier that the government of the day has missed its chance to ride on positive sentiment due to slowing economy. There has been talk of having the election in November but given the latest news from Japan.
If I were BN, I would somewhat favor to have the general election at later dates, perhaps after the release of economic reports for the third or even the fourth quarter are out. I would ride out the bad news and wait for a better time. Maybe, after Chinese New Year in February when economic activities, local and abroad, are up due to seasonal demand. Therefore, from being too late, November now seems too early.
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 11 (Bernama) — Independent power producers (IPPs) could end up supplying power to an electricity exchange instead of directly to Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) once the current power purchase agreements (PPAs) expire, said Minister of Energy, Water and Communications Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik.
[…]
Dr Lim said under the proposed exchange, TNB would buy electricity from the most cost-effective power producers. [Govt Mulls Electricity Exchange For TNB. Bernama. September 11 2007.
I am excited because this suggestion provides a basis for a better policy compared to what Malaysia is having at the moment.
As Malaysian electrical and electronics export takes a hit from slower US demand, news from the third largest market for Malaysian export might not be welcomed:
TOKYO – Japan’s economy contracted in the April-June quarter, the government said Monday in a revision of its preliminary estimate that it had expended.
The latest data suggest that the world’s second largest economy – which has been recovering in recent years – may be suffering a slowdown in its pace of growth, making it harder for the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates anytime soon. [Japan Says Economy Contracted in 2Q. Associated Press via Forbes. September 10 2007]
