Malaysia's strong economy is reason for KL to call for elections soon

MALAYSIAN entrepreneur Tony Fernandes, boss of South-east Asia's largest low-cost carrier AirAsia, was all praise for the economy recently.

"Great to see the Malaysian currency strengthening. Long overdue. Exports great. Tourism inflows growing. Been undervalued for a long time," he remarked on Twitter on Tuesday.

Mr Fernandes, one of Malaysia's top 50 wealthiest individuals on Forbes' rich list, is known for being a vocal cheerleader for his country but this one is worth drilling down beneath the platitude. For one, he is correct. The Malaysian ringgit has crawled out of the abyss of being Asia's worst-performing currency last year. Then, the currency was battered on the back of a major financial scandal, a commodity slump as well as rising US interest rates and the election of Donald Trump as US president last November which saw investors flee emerging markets.