DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang said in a statement today that as the Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak should issue an immediate response instead of “passing the buck” to Bank Negara.
The large outflow of illegal money, he added, was clearly the result of corruption and poor governance under the BN leadership over the past decade.
“It is more than five days since the publication of the GFI (Global Financial Integrity) report but there has been conspicuous silence from the government, apart from the weak excuse by the PM, passing the buck to Bank Negara on Friday,” he said.
Umno and MCA leaders, he added, should focus on explaining the country’s losses instead of using its “scare and fear” tactics to woo Tenang voters.
BN’s MCA kicked off its Tenang campaign over the weekend by harping on the Islamic state issue plaguing the opposition, in an apparent attempt to recapture the Chinese vote.
But Lim noted today that the ruling coalition should address bread-and-butter issues, pointing out that losses through illicit fund outflows would eventually cripple national development.
“The outflows will deprive the public coffer of tax revenues crucial for providing public goods like public security and high educational standards and drain capital needed for various investment projects, poverty alleviation and economic growth,” he said.
The report titled “Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries: 2000-2009” said illicit financial outflows from Malaysia totalled US$291 billion (RM888 billion) in that period.
Illegal money outflows from Malaysia tripled to US$68.2 billion in 2008, from US$22.2 billion in 2000, said the GFI.
The transparency watchdog defines illicit financial flows as generally involving the transfer of money earned through illegal activities such as corruption, transactions involving contraband goods, criminal activities, and efforts to shelter wealth from a country’s tax authorities.
On Friday, Najib had declined to comment on the matter but instead said Bank Negara would provide specific remarks.
The opposition have jumped on the issue, calling for an independent investigation on the report and urging for an immediate response from the government.
“There must not be a cover up. It is stealing from the country and keeping it in foreign banks, institutions,” Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim yesterday.
Before that, DAP had also urged the government to come clean on Malaysia’s illicit money outflows, with its secretary-general Lim Guan Eng calling for a royal commission of inquiry.
China topped the list of 125 developing countries at US$2.18 trillion in that period while Philippines, in 12th, was Malaysia’s closest regional neighbour at US$109.3 billion. Zimbabwe was 73rd at US$4.1 billion and Myanmar at 85th with US$2.9 billion.
GFI said its research indicates that political instability, rising income inequality, and pervasive corruption are some of the structural and governance issues that could be driving illicit capital from many developing countries.
The watchdog also noted that there have been media reports that large state-owned enterprises such as national oil company Petronas may be driving illicit flows.
The report further highlighted discrimination in labour markets as a factor behind migration and illegal money outflows.
The GFI also said increasing transparency in the global financial system was critical to reducing illicit financial outflows.
Najib has launched his New Economic Model (NEM) where some RM1.4 trillion will be spent in the coming decade for the country to achieve high-income status and generate some RM1.7 trillion in gross domestic product (GDP) by 2020.
