News by Supriya Surendran

It also said it will await further direction from the government in order to get a clearer picture on the implementation mechanism of the proposed REIT.

“I had to confess that I stole the data [from PetroSaudi], that I manipulated the data and that I was working with the Malaysian opposition with the help of a journalist, that the PetroSaudi-1MDB deal was a legit one, that Mr [Tarek] Obaid [of Petrosaudi] was a nice guy, and that Mr [Najib] Razak was a nice guy."

“Personally, I think being a ministry of finance company, 1MDB should have been an example of good integrity and good governance, but really, I think the company is really a — can I use the word — disgrace?"

The privatisation will be done through a proposed selective capital reduction and repayment exercise (SCR).

RAM head of research Kristina Fong said there was a noticeable deflationary trend for discretionary goods in the three-month tax-free window this year, which thereby created moderate downward pressure on the headline number. “We expect this trend to gradually reverse as vendors adjust to the new tax system,” she said.

Its new Singapore subsidiary is expected to drive earnings growth.

Nor Shamsiah: Asian countries facing increased market volatility need the option to pre-empt financial crises.

What is worrying is that their remaining income after accounting for inflation was only RM76 in 2016, down from RM124 in 2014, according to KRI’s report on “The State of Households 2018: Different Realities”.

“For instance, the monthly income of the top 20% (T20) households in certain parts of the country may have an income level similar to that of the bottom 40% (B40) household in other parts of Malaysia.”

The actual differences in household income in the country (adjusted to inflation) have almost doubled between the top 20% (T20) households and M40 as well as B40 households respectively, according to the latest State of Households report by Khazanah Research Institute (KRI) titled “Different Realities”.