Thesun 2008-12-05 Page01 Najib Valuecap Not For Bailouts

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The drop t in stock marke t ar p is prices d of a downwar h spiral whic will cause the y world economn, w o d w o to sl causing increased t unemploymeng in n e rs o w and s.” work condition

e – Jomo Kwam Sundaram

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No. 4654 PP 2644/12/2008 (020369)

Friday December 5, 2008

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11 cars buried in landslip

ORIENTAL DAILYPIX

KUALA LUMPUR: Eleven cars parked between the CIMB and Amanah Raya buildings in Jalan Semantan here were buried under mud and rubble when a landslip occurred there yesterday. Heavy rain since 2pm was believed to have caused earth to loosen at a hill close to the buildings, and crash down after a 15m retaining wall at the parking area gave way. “It’s possible that the rain factor and the underground drainage could have caused the landslip,” said the officer-in-charge of the Jalan Hang Tuah fire station, Azizan Ismail, when met at the scene. However, he said, the actual cause of the incident was still being investigated. Azizan said the owners of the 11 vehicles, who are mostly CIMB employees, had lodged a report stating that their vehicles were involved in the incident. As of 9pm, several cars had been retrieved from the rubble using two excavators, Bernama reports. The landslip had also caused traffic congestion stretching 3km in both direction in Jalan Semantan.

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Najib: ValueCap not for bailouts ‘THERE WILL BE NO POLITICAL INTERFERENCE IN THE COMPANY’S INVESTMENT DECISIONS’ UALA LUMPUR: Addressing continued concerns over the RM5 billion injection of public funds into ValueCap Sdn Bhd, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak yesterday assured the people the extra allocation will not be used to bail out politically-connected individuals or government-linked companies. “I wish to give a categorical assurance that ValueCap will be used for value investing and will not be used to bail out anyone,” Najib, who is also finance minister, said at the 13th Malaysian Capital Market Summit here. He said ValueCap would be professionally and ethically-managed, adding that there will be no political interference in its investment decisions. His assurance comes in the wake of a report that the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), which will lend the RM5 billion to ValueCap, has reported that its unaudited investment income in the third quarter had fallen more than 60% from the second

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quarter, and is also significantly lower than the corresponding quarter last year. This was mainly due to a fall in income from equities. Earlier, when the fund injection was first announced by Najib, the government had soothed immediate fears that the money was meant to clear ValueCap’s loans of approximately the same amount due early next year to its shareholders – Khazanah, the Pension Trust Fund Council (KWAP) and Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB). The government had said the three bodies had agreed to extend the loan. It was earlier said the RM5 billion allocation was for ValueCap to invest in under-valued stocks with good upside potential. Asked about the government’s growth projection of 3.5% for next year, Najib said although there were lower forecasts made by others, “let us see the development for the next one or two quarters”. “Right now it is 3.5%, but it is not an embarrass-

ment to review it,” he said. He said even Singapore reviewed its growth forecast four times. “Nobody really knows the problem out there or how deep the problem is, it is anybody’s guess.” He said there were no indications that Malaysia would slip into recession next year or even into a technical recession. Asked whether the RM7 billion stimulus package he announced recently was enough to achieve growth next year, Najib said: “Let us see developments because there are all kinds of views and forecasts.” “Let us not get excited about the forecast,” he said, when commenting on statements made by the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER) that the government needed to spend more than RM7 billion to avoid slipping into recession. MIER claimed the RM7 billion stimulus package would only help to soften the blow of a global

economic crisis as the magnitude of the impending crisis was too big to be contained by a stimulus package of this size. On another matter, Najib urged Malaysians to unite and concentrate on building the nation in overcoming the economic challenges ahead and creating opportunities for the people. He said they must build their internal resilience, reduce wastage, promote efficiency and upgrade productivity. “This is not the time for politicking or to score points politically. The general election is over. This is the time when we, as a nation, must come together and unite to face the grave external economic challenges. “We shall be fair to all. National unity and justice for all are of paramount importance. This predictability, stability, pro-business and certainty in our system of governance must be maintained,” he said.