Khairy Jamaluddin argues Malaysia is better prepared to face the Economic Crisis

Last week, I was invited to be a panelist along with YB Khairy Jamaluddin and Nani Abdul Rahman by Sepakat / IIUM on the topic World Economic Crisis: Is Malaysia Better Equipped to Face the Challenges Ahead. This was my second time being in a forum with Khairy. The first time was last year with Tony Pua at the MSLS. In the forum, Khairy stated that Malaysia is better equipped to face the crisis compared to the financial crisis in 1997-1998. I agreed that in some ways – banks capitalisation, financial sector exposure to toxic assets such as subprime mortgages and hedge funds, and the high-dividend yields of our firms, we are in a better position to face the economic crisis. The existence of the asset-backed parallel Islamic financial sector also insulates a portion of our economy from the crash.