KUALA LUMPUR: A PKR Youth leader has hit out at Bersatu vice-president Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin for his criticisms of the government over the sliding ringgit.
PKR Youth communications director Haziq Azfar said Radzi's narrative of the ringgit was "distorted" and raised the issue of Perikatan Nasional's (PN) apparent failure in managing the economy when it was in power.
In a recent video posted on social media, Radzi accused the government of not being serious in tackling the falling ringgit.
Haziq said the economy was in a worse state when PN was in power between 2020 and 2021, citing the fact that Malaysia's Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) was the lowest in the region at the time and that the country's Fitch Ratings were downgraded affecting interest on the national debt.
PN's administration was also marked by a high inflation rate of 4.5 per cent, high unemployment, and closures of numerous businesses because of the "half-baked" Movement Control Order.
"Then it was quite different compared to the current state of the country's economic indicators including unemployment rates, inflation, FDI, and the stock exchange which is showing very positive developments," he said in a statement.
This, he said, underscored the impact of external factors on the ringgit's performance.
Yesterday, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) governor, Datuk Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour said the ringgit's performance was influenced by external factors including interest rates in the United States, geopolitical concerns, and uncertainties surrounding China's economic prospects.