A minimum wage is more than a number on a payslip. It is a deliberate intervention in the labour market—a legal floor intended to protect workers from excessively low wages, improve purchasing power and reduce wage inequality. But intervention comes with trade-offs. Raise the floor too little and it may have little impact on living standards. Raise it too quickly and employers may respond through higher prices, lower margins, reduced hiring, shorter working hours or greater automation. The proposed increase from RM1,700 to RM2,000 therefore deserves to be examined beyond whether workers deserve another RM300. It raises a bigger question of whether the government is deliberately trying to forcing Malaysia away from its low-wage, low-cost business model? Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has signalled that Budget 2027 will contain further measures to boost wages. He has expressed dissatisfaction with Malaysian wage levels and indicated that government intervention may be necessary to push wag...

Rhetoric vs. Reality in the Negeri Sembilan Royal Crisis Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has loudly proclaimed his absolute neutrality in the escalating 2026 Negeri Sembilan constitutional crisis, insisting that the Federal Government will not interfere.  However, a closer look at the timeline, the heavy-handed use of state machinery, and the Prime Minister’s own harsh remarks reveals that this "hands-off" stance is a narrative crafted out of political necessity rather than genuine respect for state boundaries.  The reality suggests that Anwar only adopted a defensive, non-interfering posture after receiving heavy pressure from both within his administration and the traditional authorities of Negeri Sembilan.

  Khalilah Dato' Mohd Talha's reflection, Was Prophet Yusuf the World's First Economist? , is more than an interesting observation about a Qur'anic story. It raises a question that modern economics may have become uncomfortable answering: What is an economy actually for? Prophet Yusuf's economic wisdom was remarkably simple. When abundance was forecast, he did not ask how much could be consumed, how quickly wealth could be accumulated or how much return could be extracted. He asked how today's abundance could be preserved so that people could survive tomorrow's scarcity. Somewhere along the evolution of modern capitalism, that priority appears to have been reversed. In the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and the Christian Bible, Prophet Yusuf in the Qur'an is the same figure known as Joseph. 

  The theme of The Edge HSBC Pre Budget 2027 Roundtable discussion was the challenges to the fiscal consolidation coming from external uncertainties. Read HERE .   After the display of power, defiance and political legitimacy from the three appearances together at the UN General Assembly — US President Donald Trump on September 22, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on September 23, and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on September 24, 2026, followed by a mass walkout by 73 countries representatives, one would not have expected market to react as it did last night. Following the UN General Assembly spectacle to project an image of political strength and certainty, the oil market told a different story. 

When politics threatens to overshadow the budget In a recent episode of Keluar Sekejap , Khairy Jamaluddin raised an intriguing possibility: if there were to be a “hacking from the rooftop”, it could conceivably come through the proposed Budget 2027 failing to secure passage in Parliament. It was a passing observation, rather than the subject of the programme. Yet it raises a question that deserves serious consideration. If a national budget were to become a casualty of political manoeuvring, it would be deeply unfortunate. Parliament should scrutinise, challenge and improve a Budget. That is its constitutional role. But deliberately preventing a government from having an approved financial plan would be a very different matter. It would suggest that politics is beginning to lose sight of its fundamental purpose — to administer the country responsibly — and becoming increasingly preoccupied with the pursuit of power. That is precisely what Malaysia can least afford as Budget 2027 appro...

The emergence of Mark Carney as Canada's Prime Minister raises a question that Malaysia should perhaps ask itself: does a country facing increasingly complex economic and geopolitical challenges need a different kind of political leadership? Carney is unusual because politics was not the foundation of his career. Before entering electoral politics, he had already accumulated decades of experience in banking, finance and public institutions. He served as Governor of the Bank of Canada and subsequently Governor of the Bank of England.  He entered politics carrying with him experience in managing financial crises, international institutions and economic uncertainty. That background is now evident in the way he is dealing with Donald Trump. Rather than responding to Trump's pressure simply through political rhetoric, Carney has sought to reduce Canada's vulnerability to dependence on the United States. Canada is looking towards Europe, Asia and other markets while strengthening...

There has been much talk about taking Budget 2027 to the ground, listening to different groups and understanding their concerns before the Budget is finalised. I welcome the sentiment, although consultation with industry, businesses and the public before a Budget is hardly a new practice. Governments have always needed to hear from those who will ultimately be affected by their policies. What interests me more is what we hear when the Budget is finally delivered. Budget speeches are inevitably filled with economic terminology. Fiscal consolidation. Productivity. Competitiveness. Targeted subsidies. Structural reform. High-value investment. Human capital. All are important. But most Malaysians are not economists.  A family is more likely to think about the grocery bill, petrol, rent, school expenses and medical costs. A young graduate is thinking about getting a decent first job. A small trader is thinking about whether there will be enough customers next month. An SME is thinking a...

The national debt is approaching RM1.4 trillion. Yes, it is large. Yes, it deserves scrutiny.  But Malaysia needs something more useful than another round of political arithmetic over which Prime Minister accumulated more debt. Early this year, the Prime Minister's remark that there would be no new borrowing has been seized upon by his critics as evidence of another broken promise. It may well have been an unfortunate slip of the tongue, particularly when made in the heat of a political rally.  But it should not become a substitute for discussing the much more important question: What is Malaysia actually doing about its debt trajectory?

  There is a curious contradiction in Malaysian politics today. A Merdeka Center survey put Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's approval rating at 52 per cent — still relatively respectable and the highest among the political leaders tested.  Yet Pakatan Harapan does not look like a popular political force. Its performance in recent state elections and by-elections has been disappointing, and there is already widespread speculation that PH could face another difficult contest in Melaka. So how can a Prime Minister remain relatively popular while the coalition behind him appears increasingly vulnerable?

For a brief moment, Malaysia appeared to have gained some breathing space on the fuel subsidy front. The feared explosion in the government's fuel subsidy bill did not materialise to the extent initially feared. The move towards targeted subsidies, particularly through BUDI95, gave the government greater control over its fiscal exposure while keeping subsidised RON95 at RM1.99 a litre. But the latest developments in the Middle East are beginning to test that resilience. The renewed confrontation involving Iran, the continuing uncertainty surrounding the Strait of Hormuz, the Houthi advance around Yemen's Red Sea coast and the temporary closure of Saudi Arabia's East-West oil pipeline have created a much more serious threat to global oil supplies.  Brent crude has moved back above US$100 a barrel as markets increasingly price in the possibility of actual physical disruption rather than merely a geopolitical risk premium. For Malaysia, the timing could hardly be more sensitiv...

When US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was asked about America’s national debt crossing the astonishing US$40 trillion mark, his response was strikingly simple:  “There’s nothing magic about the $40 trillion number… we can grow our way out of that.”  He subsequently argued that global economic growth is the way to deal with the mountain of debt. It is an interesting proposition, particularly for Malaysia. America’s debt has now exceeded 120% of its GDP, while Malaysia’s federal government debt remains below 65% of GDP. The comparison should not be taken too literally because the two economies, currencies, financial markets and debt structures are very different.  Nevertheless, Bessent’s argument raises a question Malaysia should be asking itself. Can stronger economic growth make the task of managing and eventually reducing our debt burden easier? The answer is yes—but only partly.

  Do you realised that lately, in the afternoon, the car air-conditioning does not seem to work? The air-conditioner may be working perfectly in the morning and evening, yet by mid-afternoon the car becomes unbearably hot and the cooling seems inadequate. There may be nothing wrong with the air-conditioning. The problem is the extraordinary heat load outside. What we are beginning to experience is the early manifestation of a much larger weather phenomenon: El Niño. El Niño is not simply “hot weather”. It is a disruption of the normal ocean-atmosphere system in the tropical Pacific that changes rainfall, temperature and atmospheric circulation over a huge area.  The World Meteorological Organization now says the current El Niño is firmly established, is expected to strengthen to a very strong event, and has an almost 100% probability of continuing through February 2027.

For many Malaysians, the recent decision by Prime Minister and Finance Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to restore the monthly BUDI95 petrol entitlement to 300 litres will come as welcome news. The diesel entitlement has also been adjusted, providing some additional breathing space to households and businesses that depend heavily on their vehicles. After months of discussion about subsidy rationalisation, the decision is understandable. It reflects a recognition that while targeted subsidy reform remains necessary, it must also take account of the realities faced by Malaysians, particularly those who drive long distances or depend on vehicles for their livelihoods. More importantly, it suggests that the Government now has greater confidence in managing fuel consumption, enforcement and the fiscal implications of subsidies. That is reassuring. But there is another message that Malaysians should not overlook. A more manageable domestic fuel situation does not mean that the international...

The Amanat Perdana Hari Kebangsaan delivered by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was, in many ways, a political acknowledgement that economic progress cannot be measured merely by GDP growth, investment numbers or fiscal statistics. It must also be felt in the daily lives of ordinary Malaysians. The decision to restore the BUDI95 monthly quota from 200 litres to 300 litres is perhaps the clearest example. More than 16 million Malaysians will again have access to subsidised RON95 up to the higher ceiling, while eligible diesel pickup and jeep owners can receive up to 400 litres. The Government says the decision was made after months of monitoring and was supported by better supply management, stronger enforcement, a resilient economy and improved fiscal capacity. Critics have pointed to the apparent inconsistency with earlier statements that only about 1% of users would be affected by the reduction. But this criticism misses an important distinction. A policy can be technically defensible w...