theSun | MONDAY OCTOBER 26 2009  13

business

KL market summary
OCTOBER 23, 2009

INDICES CHANGE
Shares expected to be higher next week
FBMEMAS 8515.58 36.87 SHARE prices on Bursa Malaysia are ex- income economy.
FBMKLCI 1267.10 7.08 pected to be higher this week supported by However, a dealer said the upside might
INDUSTRIAL 2701.68 26.36 the positive proposals contained in Budget be limited in view of other external factors
CONSUMER PROD 367.33 0.07
INDUSTRIAL PROD 94.69 -0.11
2010 announced on Friday. which remain critical to the market, such as
CONSTRUCTION 237.98 2.06 The government’s fiscal consolidation ap- Wall Street and regional markets movement
TRADING/SERVICES 162.65 0.60 proach to reduce the budget deficit shored as well as local corporate earnings.
FINANCE 10791.76 54.72 market confidence, and the decision to An analyst expected the budget to be
PROPERTIES 820.38 -1.13 reduce the budget deficit to 5.6% in 2010, sufficient to help sustain the FTSE Bursa
PLANTATION 6206.49 27.44 from 7.4% this year, also brought cheer to Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index at
MINING 314.10 -2.02 investors. Describing the reduced budget current levels but volume may remain thin as
FBMSHA 8560.50 29.68 deficit as a good move, dealers said the peo- the market undergoes minor corrections.
FBMACE 4341.87 -17.12
ple-friendly budget is expected to sustain the The budget would benefit several sec- EXCHANGE RATES October 23, 2009
TECHNOLOGY 17.11 -0.04
market momentum for the week. tors directly and indirectly such as property,
TURNOVER VALUE They said the budget emphasised prudent construction, mining, telecommunication Foreign currency Bank sell Bank buy Bank buy
5.044bil RM6.428bil fiscal management and promotion of “value and technology, said head of Inter-Pacific TT/OD TT OD
for money” to turn the nation into a high- Research Anthony Dass. – Bernama 1 US Dollar 3.4150 3.3500 3.3400
1 Australian Dollar 3.1900 3.0930 3.0770
1 Brunei Dollar 2.4610 2.4000 2.3920
1 Canadian Dollar 3.2730 3.1920 3.1800

Addressing the social impact 1 Euro

1 New Zealand Dollar
1 Papua N Guinea Kina
1 Singapore Dollar
1 Sterling Pound
1 Swiss Franc
5.1440
2.6220
1.4280
2.4605
5.6960
3.4110
5.0380
2.5070
1.1820
2.4000
5.5800
3.3270
5.0180
2.4910
1.1660
2.3920
5.5600
3.3120

of the crisis
by Elayne Yee Siew Lin
THE crisis-induced changes in employ-
ment, income, and prices not only directly
affect households’ current standards of
living but they also have a major impact on
household investment in human develop-
ment.
Since the onset of the global economic
crisis, much has been said and published
about its economic and financial impact,
but relatively little has been said about the
socio-economic impact.
While it is not difficult to observe the
direct and often immediate adverse social
impact of the crisis, little is known about
their indirect and long-term impact on the
country’s human development and social
capital potential which are increasingly ac-
knowledged in developing economies as a
critical factor for sustainable development.
As a result of the economic meltdown, it
is expected that Malaysia’s unemployment
rate will rise from 3.7% last year to 4.5% in
2009. This amounts to nearly 500,000 un-
employed in 2009, based on the latest third
quarter labour figures. The rise in unem-
ployment and lower incomes are the main
channels through which the social impact
of the crisis has been transmitted because it
is through these channels that the average
household’s real income shrinks.
Against the above backdrop, it is
expected then that the incidence of pov-
erty will likely increase from 3.6% of total
households in 2007, with the incidence of
hard-core poverty estimated to increase
from 0.7% in 2007, or about 43,100 hard-
core poor households. In particular, poor
households in urban areas could also rise,
exceeding the 2007 total of 11,640 as nega-
tive economic growth, retrenchment and
reduced working hours hit the more urban-
based and formal sector of the economy.
However, all these do not adequately groups can be expected to suffer substan-
100 Arab Emirates Dirham
100 Bangladesh Taka
100 Chinese Renminbi
100 Danish Krone
100 Hongkong Dollar
100 Indian Rupee
94.6100
5.1500
NA
71.3000
44.8400
7.6100
89.5800
4.7130
NA
65.5000
42.4600
6.9900
89.3800
4.5130
NA
65.3000
42.2600
6.7900
reflect the full-blown impact of the crisis. tially greater adverse effects. 100 Indonesian Rupiah 0.0373 0.0320 0.0270
While, so far, the adverse impact on em- Among these are women, children, 100 Japanese Yen 3.7460 3.6530 3.6430
ployment, income and standard of living youth, the elderly, single parents, the disa- 100 New Taiwan Dollar NA NA NA
in Malaysia pales in comparison with that bled, some categories of workers (factory, 100 Norwegian Krone 63.9500 58.6400 58.4400
experienced by other crisis-hit economies service, white-collar, and farm workers),
100 Pakistan Rupee 4.2000 3.9300 3.7300
such as Singapore and Taiwan, it will, migrant workers, urban squatters, etc.
however, be ultimately necessary and Within each of these groups, the poor are 100 Philippine Peso 7.3500 6.9200 6.7200
important to probe deeper into issues such obviously particularly vulnerable to the 100 Qatar Riyal 95.2400 90.5900 90.3900
as the extent of voluntary retirement at an crisis. As lamented by Deputy Minister of 100 Saudi Riyal 92.450 87.940 87.740
earlier age, the willingness of the workforce Women’s Family and Community Devel- 100 South Africa Rand 47.6900 43.8600 43.6600
to accept lower wages in order to retain opment Noriah Kasnon recently, despite 100 Sri Lanka Rupee 3.0700 2.8200 2.6200
jobs, the extent of the workforce who are contributing a higher productivity to the
100 Swedish Krona 52.3000 47.5100 47.3100
currently working in jobs for which they economy, employers tend to get rid of their
are either over-qualified or in which they female workers first. 100 Thai Baht 10.9600 9.2900 8.8900
Source: Malayan Banking Berhad
are able to earn only a marginal income. There are lessons to be learnt from
All the above manifestations arising our experience in dealing with the social
from the crisis are important, not only impacts of the crisis. One such lesson is the Poll puts MAS in 8th spot in
because they have an adverse direct social need for the public and private sectors to
impact by cutting household incomes, but improve on the existing social safety-nets Top Airlines, Worldwide Category
also because they entail a real loss to the in terms of their coverage, effectiveness KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airlines has move up a rung to
economy in terms of under-utilisation of and financial capacities to deal with similar the 8th position in the Top Airlines, Worldwide Category in
resources. future economic crises. A comprehensive the Best in Travel 2009 Poll by Smart Travel Asia magazine.
The crisis-induced changes in employ- review of these nets is, therefore, crucial It is tied with Lufthansa in the position.
ment, income, and prices not only directly during the current crisis. Besides retrain- “We are delighted to receive the recognition and once
affect households’ current standards of ing, retrenched workers who are on the again we are among the world’s top 10 best airlines,” Ma-
living but they also have a major impact verge of becoming poor would need other laysia Airlines managing director and chief executive officer
on household investment in human assistance as well. Datuk Azmil Zahruddin said in a statement.
development, particularly in the area of Another lesson to be learnt from the cri- The poll measures readers’ perceptions and favourite
health (including nutrition), education and sis is the need for a more appropriate and travel brands and ran from May to July.
fertility. These negative impacts on human efficient information system to monitor the The selection criteria was based on a combination of
investment are particularly unfortunate social impacts of the crisis over time and to actual travel experience, word-of-mouth and an idea of the
since they imply that the effects of the crisis deliver high-quality data and analysis in a brand drawn from advertising and editorial exposure in the
will be felt for many years into the future, timely manner. Such a system will provide media, primarily online. Those who voted took an average of
and more so when the magnitude of the useful feedback to policy-makers and other 12.84 air trips over the past 12 months and 60% were from
current slump is far worse than expected. parties on the effectiveness of measures the US with an annual household income of US$170,401
Other likely impacts of the crisis are found already implemented and offer policy (RM581,067).
in areas such as crime and domestic vio- guidelines concerning additional measures Azmil said Malaysia Airlines was committed to providing
lence, the environment, and the levels of that need to be taken in the future. its customers with seamless travel experience.
community cooperation, participation and “One of our key initiatives is introducing new aircraft.
cohesiveness which may erode the existing Our customers will be among the first to enjoy the new,
stock of social capital. Elayne Yee Siew Lin is research fellow spacious 737-800 Boeing Sky Interior as we are the second
Although the crisis has impacted on every- with the Malaysian Institute of Economic airline in the world to take delivery of the aircraft from next
one in society, some particularly vulnerable Research (MIER) year,” he said. – Bernama