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Ringgit to potentially weaken to RM3.45 - The Borneo Post Online Berita Sarawak - News 2 Sarawak

Ringgit to potentially weaken to RM3.45 - The Borneo Post Online

Posted: 11 Feb 2014 09:28 AM PST

by Adrian Lim, adrianlim@theborneopost.com. Posted on February 12, 2014, Wednesday

KUCHING: The potential outflow of foreign funds from Malaysia cound lead the ringgit to depreciate further, cites AmResearch Sdn Bhd (AmResearch).

"We expect the overall reserves at Bank Negara Malaysia to deplete further in the months ahead as outflow of funds persist," outlined AmResearch economist Patricia Oh in a research note on the matter.

"As the US economy gathers pace, the US Federal Reserve is expected to continue unwinding its asset purchase programme in the subsequent Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meetings during the year.

"As of January 2014, the size of the latest QE is approximately US$1.28 trillion, which is about the amount of QE2.Asset purchases under QE2 which ended in June 2011 had amounted to US$600 billion.

"In the interim period,the ringgit could potentially depreciate by at most another 3.8 per cent to approximately RM3.45 should the QE continue to unwind and the overnight policy rate (OPR) is capped at three per cent level.

"Domestically, we believe that policy adjustment will be retained until the economy signals sustainable domestic growth amidst stable price environment," she said.

Meanwhile, Alliance Research Sdn Bhd's economist Manokaran Mottain concurred with Oh that there could be further outflow of foreign capital.

He said foreign holdings of Malaysia's Government Securities (MGS) in December 2013 continued to tick down, from 45.1 per cent in October 2013 to 44.9 per cent in December 2013.

He believed that a further sell down is likely given the rising 10-year MGS yield from 4.13 per cent at the end of December to 4.25 per cent at the end of January 2014.

He observed that on equity portfolio holding, foreign institutional investors remained as net sellers of Malaysian equities forthe fifth time in six months, registered a net outflow of RM3.6 billion in January 2014.

He noted that net outflows were RM1.6 billion for December 2013 and RM3.1 billion for October 2013.

Manokaran said the outflow was in line with the research firm's estimate on the decline of the market capitalisation of Bursa Malaysia, which fell further to RM1.64 trillion at the end of January compared to RM1.66 trillion on January 15.

He noted that since then, the ringgit has depreciated by 1.51 per cent drop to close at RM3.3364 per one US dollar on January 30 from RM3.2868 per US dollar two weeks ago.

Therefore, the research firm remained cautious on the near term outlook of the country's international reserves and the equity market.

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Works Minister reminded to allocate funds for Sabah, <b>Sarawak</b> <b>...</b>

Posted: 06 Feb 2014 04:14 PM PST

KOTA KINABALU: STAR Sabah chief Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan has questioned the lack of allocations for the repair of roads and slopes in Sabah and Sarawak that were damaged by floods.

"The federal Works Minister and Public Works Department should be commended for speedily inspecting, finalizing and approving the estimated costs of repairs of recent flood damaged roads and slopes in Terengganu, Pahang and Johor of RM56.9 million but there is no mention of any allocations for Sabah and Sarawak," he said.

Jeffrey said the people of Sabah and Sarawak would have expected that with the Works Minister from Sarawak, more priority would have been given to the two states.

"Even without the damage from the recent floods, Sabah has been crying out for the RM920 million needed since 2009 for 647 road slopes failures, and as of September 2013, RM2 billion backlog for road repairs and another RM700 million for repairs and upgrading of 62 bridges.

"Now that road damage and landslides caused by the recent floods cutting off traffic in Sabah and Sarawak are in the news again, one would have expected a different and more positive response from the federal government," he said in a statement yesterday.

"Perhaps, it is time for the federal Works Minister to review the needs of the Borneo states and allocate the necessary federal funds for Sabah and Sarawak. There can be no excuse for not allocating these funds since they have been readily and speedily approved for Terengganu, Pahang and Johor within a month," he added.

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Emart Group spreads its wings to major cities in <b>Sarawak</b> <b>...</b>

Posted: 07 Feb 2014 08:22 AM PST

KUCHING: Emerging retail and commercial property developer Emart Group is gradually expanding its presence to major cities in Sarawak.

Besides having footprints in four locations in Kuching namely Matang, Demak Laut, Sukma Ria and the latest being Batu Kawa, the retail player will also be opening up more shoplots and retail spaces in Bintulu, Sibu and Miri over the next few years.

A company spokesperson said Emart Group is committed to build up its brand name as one of Malaysia's leading one-stop shopping mall by providing excellent services to customers.

She said Emart Group's commercial development at Batu Kawa has achieved 80 per cent completion at present and will be officially launched in the second quarter of 2014.

She observed that the retail cum commercial property development will have a built up area of 350,000 square feet including a two-storey shopping mall housed within the area.

She said one of the upcoming attractions will be a fresh market where residents living nearby can purchase local produce and necessity items besides enabling local businesses to trade by setting up stalls and booths there.

Going forward, she said the concept of Emart Group is to develop its own super market or retail mall whilst leasing out some of its shoplots for tenants to rent.

She revealed that another Emart Group's project, Mega Emart @ Bintulu, which is the group's biggest development will have a built up area of 470,000 square feet comprising a shopping mall, three-and -five storey shop houses and apartments.

She noted that the project will be unveiled in the next two months.

Additionally, she said the upcoming Emart Riam in Miri will have a built up area of some 82,000 square feet with mixed development comprising a shopping mall and shoplots.

On another note, the company said its Mega Emart @ Bintulu project has enjoyed good response and take up rate noting that the first customer of the project had pre-ordered the space while under construction.

Meanwhile, besides being a property developer, Emart Group's management team is also very active with its corporate social responsibility programme.

The company's spokesperson said Emart Group has been organising training camps for youth and students so they could participate and learn leadership skills.

She said the training camp also aimed at giving youth and students the opportunities to gain more exposure apart from acquiring new skills and knowledge to become more independent.

Other activities that the company organised include entrepreneurship training programme for employees, discussions and interactions between business associates to enhance the partnership of business partners.

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State statistics: Malays edge past Chinese in <b>Sarawak</b> – BorneoPost <b>...</b>

Posted: 07 Feb 2014 11:06 AM PST

KUCHING: The Malays have overtaken the Chinese as the second largest ethnic group in Sarawak.

According to the latest statistics from the state's statistics department, the population of the Malays as at the third quarter of last year was 599,600, whereas the figure for the Chinese stood at 596,100.

The Malays' population actually surpassed that of the Chinese for the first time in the first quarter of last year by 5,000 individuals.

In the first quarter of 2012, the Chinese population was 590,500 compared to the Malays at 585,200, but by the end of that year the difference narrowed to only 1,000 individuals.

Overall, the scenario remained status quo for the other races in the state, with the Ibans remaining as the biggest ethnic group with a population of 745,400.

The Bidayuhs remain on fourth place with 205,900, followed by the Melanaus with 132,600, the Orang Ulus (164,700), Indians (7,800) and others (8,200).

The state's population has also recorded an increase from 2,538,400 in the first quarter of 2012 to 2,583,000 as at the third quarter of last year, an increase of 44,600 or 1.76 per cent.

In comparison, there are more males in Sarawak compared to females, with a difference of 89,400.

In terms of distribution of population throughout the state, Kuching City remained the most populous city with 598,617 people, followed by Miri City with 234,541 people.

The third largest town is Bintulu with a population of 183,402, followed closely by Sibu with 162,676.

But if Sibu's population were to include its suburban area, then it would be in third position as it has an overall population of some 240,165 people.

Other major towns are Serian with a population of 89,078 people; followed by Kota Samarahan (85,495), Sri Aman (64,500), Marudi (62,8830), Betong (60,728), Sarikei (56,228), Subis (55,733) and Mukah/Dalat (41,481).

The smallest town or council is Pakan, with a population of only 15,139, followed by Matu/Daro with 16,952 people.

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CM to retire once successor found - The Borneo Post Online

Posted: 08 Feb 2014 11:48 AM PST

KUCHING: Finally, after 33 years since he took office as Chief Minister on March 26 1981, Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud dropped a bomb shell yesterday – he will step down once he found a successor.

It was a worthwhile wait for the big media crowd that swamped PBB headquarters as early as 8.30am to get the much-awaited decision from PBB Permanent Chairman Datuk Amar Mohd Asfia Awang Nassar, who gave a press conference immediately after the five-hour meeting was over.

Present at the press conference were PBB vice-president Datuk Talip Zulipilip and the party's secretary-general Datuk Dr Stephen Rundi.

Asfia said the party's Supreme Council and the party's caucus had given Taib the mandate to pick his successor.

Dr Rundi, who was present at the supreme council meeting, briefed reporters after the press conference on what actually transpired in the meeting.

He said the atmosphere was very calm and family like.

Dr Rundi said the decision to allow Taib to anoint his successor was because it had always been the culture and the practice of the party.

He said that during crucial times, the party would made a collective decision, and yesterday, for instance, there was all round support from the supreme council members and the caucus to allow Taib to decide his successor.

Dr Rundi said this would give the chief minister time to make his decision.

He pledged that as the party's secretary-general, he would ensure that all party members continued to work hard to strengthen the party and whoever is the new chief minister the party would give its full support to make sure that PBB remained the pillar of strength for the state Barisan Nasional (BN).

Before the meeting, hundreds of young people from Angkatan Warisan Anak Sarawak carried emotional banners with the words `We love our Chief Minister and continue to helm the state' at the entrance of the party headquarters in Jalan Bako.

Meanwhile, when commenting on the transition of power in PBB, PRS president Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Masing said he and his party supported PBB's supreme council's decision to give Taib the mandate to pick his successor.

Masing added that he would try his best to influence his supreme council members to support Taib's choice to ensure a smooth transition of power.

"We hope that when Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud retires, he will not leave us alone to fend for ourselves. We still need his experience and wisdom to develop Sarawak."

State PKR vice-chairman See Chee How said after 33 years as the chief minister, he personally felt Taib deserved a break.

"However, he has made himself indispensable in PBB, the state BN and the state government … the mainstay that held the forces together.

"Whoever the successor is will not be able to achieve that feat without the support of Umno. Allowing Umno to gain its foothold at this juncture is not good for Sarawak and I think we are entering a new political era where every Sarawakian should assess and determine the political future of the state," said Batu Lintang assemblyman See.

He added that he could foresee there would be changes and political shift in the state, and that he was hopeful about it.

Meanwhile, Taib is scheduled to chair another meeting today at PBB headquarters, but this time for the State BN supreme council.

The leaders of the other state BN components are expected to be briefed on the outcome of yesterday's PBB supreme council meeting.

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Riot upset, disappointed - The Borneo Post Online

Posted: 07 Feb 2014 11:00 AM PST

by Johnson K Saai, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on February 8, 2014, Saturday

The SUPP No.2 says he was not informed about the meeting with Home Minister

KUCHING: Should there be any truth in the proposed merger between Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP) and Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP), then the most disappointed and unhappy person could be SUPP deputy president Dato Sri Richard Riot.

Expressing his discontentment over the purported meeting between SUPP president Tan Sri Peter Chin and SPDP deputy president Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing together with Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on Thursday, Riot said if the report was true, he for one would be very disappointed.

"On the proposed merger between SUPP and SPDP, to be very frank with you all, as the deputy president of the party (SUPP) I am not in the picture. I only know about it after reading the newspaper this (yesterday) morning. So on that you can quote me…I am not quite happy," he said.

Riot, who is Human Resource Minister, said this when asked to comment on the report about Chin and Tiong meeting with Zahid and to propose to the latter that if SUPP were spared from deregistration, the party would merge with SPDP.

The Serian MP was met after presenting Social Security Organisation (Socso) compensation cheques to members and their next-of-kin at Socso office here yesterday.

"If the report was true, which I hope is not, as the deputy president I feel very sorry for the party because in the first place, for serious matters like this, members of the Central Working Committee (CWC) should have been informed, particularly me, as deputy president, because the party doesn't belong to just one man.

"So, for that you can see from my face that I am serious because as deputy president I should have been consulted.

"Anything to do with party policy, particularly when I am supposed to be the number two man in the party, I should have been informed. I am not sure whether they (Chin and Tiong) really met with the Home Minister but if there was truth in it then I am certainly very unhappy and disappointed," he stressed.

He said that it was not only a show of disrespect to him but it was definitely wrong for the president to do things without informing other members because the party does not belong to one individual and therefore should have discussed issues like that with the Central Working Committee (CWC), at the least.

Therefore, he said, should there be truth in the proposed merger, then perhaps it was only the party president's personal view.

Asked whether he would meet Chin over the matter, Riot said since the party president hadn't informed him, then there was no cause for them to meet.

On his next course of action, Riot said he would not take any now but would only cross the bridge when the time comes; adding that what was most important to him was his service to the rakyat.

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