News by The Edge

解决房屋可负担性的问题，最直接的方法是先降低各造面对的风险。如何做到？

In the SRC case, the former finance minister faces one count of abuse of power in relation to his role in approving RM4 billion worth of loans from the Retirement Fund Inc to SRC International. In addition, the Pekan MP also faces three criminal breach of trust charges and three money-laundering charges in relation to RM42 million found in his bank accounts.

Home prices have risen rapidly since 1990, fuelled by historically low interest rates and enabled by the then government’s policies (such as home ownership campaigns, Developer Interest Bearing Scheme and a reduction in the real property gains tax) and banks’ aggressive lending for mortgages. As a result, home affordability has declined by half.

Over the last few years, the Malaysian property market has been characterised by sluggish sales and a rising number of unsold homes. Developers are sitting on large stocks of inventories, which are stretching their balance sheets, funded by borrowings from banks, and the debt and capital markets, including issuing perpetual securities. The sector’s poor outlook is reflected in the low valuation of property stocks, most of which are trading at around one-third book value.

How did this situation come about?

The former prime minister's lawyer Harvinderjit Singh said there are other circumstances that the court ought to consider, like whether Najib originally — at the material time — knew that the money that went into his accounts came from SRC, formerly a subsidiary of 1Malaysia Development Bhd.

In 5½ decades, never has the group encountered such adversity — its casinos and hotels have had to remain shut for two months now, owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, choking cash flow and revenue.

It will be investing in the renovation of existing rooms at the Parkroyal Kuala Lumpur, adding more rooms and introducing serviced suites.

“During this unprecedented time and with no clear and definite time when businesses will start to move towards normality, hotels may embark on upgrading or refurbishing the properties.”

Governments do have a moral dilemma — lives or livelihoods? But it does not have to be that way if we take a dual-track approach that strikes a balance between health and economics.

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) projected that the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth to be between -2% and 0.5% this year amid expectation that economic activities will pick up in the second half of the year.