Salam Sejahtera
With great pleasure, the Faculty of Economics and Administration, cordially invites you to the following webinar:
POST-BUDGET ANALYSIS WEBINAR
20 November 2020 (Friday) at 3.00 pm
Moderator:
Prof. Datuk Dr. Rajah Rasiah
Distinguished Professor of Economics
University of Malaya
Panelists:
Ms. Zakiah Jaafar
Deputy Secretary General of Treasury (Policy)
Ministry of Finance
Ms. Julia Goh
Senior Economist (Malaysia)
Senior Vice President, Global Economics and Markets Research
United Overseas Bank (Malaysia)
Prof. Edmund Terence Gomez
Dean of Faculty of Economics & Administration
University of Malaya
Register here to get the link: https://forms.gle/
SYNOPSIS
The Malaysian 2021 Budget, the largest in the country's history, entitled "Resilient As One, Together We Triumph", was tabled in the Parliament on 6 November 2020. This Budget was delivered in the midst of an unprecedented global health pandemic that had serious economic repercussions worldwide. Malaysia, burdened as it was with this dual crisis, also had to contend with political uncertainties. The 2021 Budget had three main goals, the rakyat's well-being, business continuity and economic resilience. By achieving these goals, the Government was optimistic that a strong economic rebound would occur in 2021, with GDP growth expanding between 6.5% and 7.5%, compared to an expected contraction of 4.5% in 2020. Since the tabling of the budget, a general view is that the Government has not allotted sufficient funds to help deal effectively with the COVID-19 crisis and sustain economic growth. Questions have also emerged about a strong focus on securing political support through the budget, in the event a general election is called. This forum serves as a platform to discuss these concerns as well as the effectiveness of the budget in overcoming the health pandemic, supporting livelihoods and sustaining businesses, especially the SMEs. The discussion will also focus on the role of government-linked companies in supporting an economy in distress.
About the Panelists:
Ms. Zakiah Jaafar joined the civil service in 1991 and spent 28 years of her career at the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) before joining MOF in late 2019. At EPU, she managed, various portfolios, including macroeconomic framework, knowledge-based economy and public sector
housing. In her current position at MOF, she oversees national budgeting, tax policy, fiscal and macroeconomics management and international relations. Ms. Zakiah holds an honours bachelor's degree in Economics from Warwick University and a masters degree in Economics from Birmingham University. She has attended the Advanced Management and Leadership Programme at Oxford University and the Premier Executive Advanced Development Programme in Canberra, Australia. She sits on the Board of Directors of PETRONAS, Employees Provident Fund (EPF), Pengurusan Aset Air Berhad and Bintulu Port Holdings Berhad.
Ms. Julia Goh joined UOB Malaysia in 2015 with 12 years of research experience working in the stockbroking industry. In her current role, she is responsible for the UOB Global Economics and Markets Research team's coverage of Malaysia and is frequently quoted in the local and foreign media on the country's economic trends and developments and currency. Prior to joining UOB Malaysia, Julia covered Malaysia and regional economies at an ASEAN investment bank and contributed to the research team being ranked among the top three in country research on Malaysia at the Asiamoney Brokers Poll for seven consecutive years. She also previously worked in the consultancy sector. Julia graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Commerce and a First Class Honours in Master of Economics, specialising in international and monetary economics and applied econometric techniques.
Prof. Edmund Terence Gomez has held appointments at the University of Leeds (England) and Murdoch University (Australia) and served as Visiting Professor at Kobe University (Japan) and at the Universities of Michigan (Ann Arbor) and California (San Diego, United States). Between 2005 and 2008, he served as Research Coordinator at the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), in Switzerland. His book publications include Malaysia's Political Economy: Politics, Patronage and Profits (Cambridge University Press, 1997), The New Economic Policy in Malaysia: Affirmative Action, Horizontal Inequalities and Social Justice (National University of Singapore Press, 2013), Affirmative Action, Ethnicity and Conflict (Routledge, 2013), Government Linked Companies and Sustainable, Equitable Development (Routledge, 2014) Minister of Finance Incorporated: Ownership and Control of Corporate Malaysia (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2017) and China in Malaysia: State-Business Relations and the New Order of Investment Flows (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2020).
Nov 19, 2020 03.00 PM - 04.30 PM Department of Development Studies, FEA, UM -