Key plans for Malaysia's economic future revealed first on Reuters

Reuters broke news on March 18 of Malaysia’s plans for boosting its economy and restructuring taxes as well as on improving long-term growth prospects. The country needs to reverse $8 billion of foreign direct investment outflows in the past 2 years and boost domestic investment. The economic regime adopted in Malaysia after race riots in 1969 brought an array of economic benefits to the 55 percent Malay population, but investors complain it has led to a patronage-ridden economy that has resulted in foreign investment increasingly moving to Indonesia and Thailand. A government source told Reuters Prime Minister Najib Razak would propose ending the subsidy regime and phasing in a new goods and services tax as he begins dismantling the race-based economic system. The plans will be officially announced by Najib at the end of March and come after a series of policy flip-flops that have cut investor confidence in the government.