Is there profiteering at the expense of the vulnerable?

by S BIRRUNTHA/ pic by HUSSEIN SHAHARUDDIN

The Perikatan Nasional (PN) government is said to turn a blind eye to what seems to be profiteering by the privileged while most Malaysians, particularly the most vulnerable, are suffering during the pandemic.

PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said some top Malaysian bank CEOs’ reportedly hefty pay raises and bonuses in 2019-2020 were questionable as the automatic bank loan moratorium was not extended to the public and whether these bonuses were extended to the employees as well.

“At what point in 2020 were banks’ profits deemed adequate to support large increases in salaries, bonuses and shareholder dividends, but not large enough to support sustained loan moratoriums for struggling families?

“What is most distressing is that the PN government called for an all-of-society mobilisation to cushion the impact of the pandemic, which should include corporate and GLC executives sharing in the pain of their employees and customers,” he said in a statement yesterday.

Anwar said while he did not condemn profit-making, he wondered if there was profiteering going on seeing as the current finance minister was also a former banker who earned RM8.53 million in 2019.

“Now we are told that the banking sector is gearing for renewed profitability in 2021 and has given pay raises to senior executives as high as 58%. The CEO of at least one GLC bank has earned a 10% boost in salary.

“Business is booming for some while much of the country continues to cope with the ongoing impact of the Movement Control Order.

“We do not condemn profit making. We are suspicious, however, of profiteering at the top at the expense of the weak and vulnerable,” he added.