Putradinar | Malaysia

Sumber : Utusan Malaysia

LONDON 8 Nov. - Ketua Bank Dunia, Robert Zoellick menggesa pemimpin-pemimpin ekonomi dunia mempertimbangkan penggunaan semula emas dalam sistem monetari sebagai pengukur dalam pergerakan mata wang. Beliau membuat cadangan itu kerana bimbang berlaku 'peperangan mata wang' dalam suratnya yang diterbitkan dalam Financial Times. Zoellick berkata, sistem itu perlu terlibat dalam dolar, euro, yen, pound dan renminbi yang kini diperdagangkan di peringkat antarabangsa.

''Sistem ini juga boleh mempertimbangkan penggunaan emas sebagai rujukan antarabangsa bagi jangkaan pasaran berkaitan inflasi, deflasi dan nilai mata wang hadapan,'' tambahnya. Amerika Syarikat (AS) kini semakin konsisten mengkritik China kerana menurunkan nilai renminbi dengan tujuan untuk mengambil faedah dalam pasaran eksport. Ekoran kritikan itu, China membalas balik dengan mencetak AS$600 bilion (RM1.8 trilion) duit baru sambil mendakwa untuk memberi AS kelebihan persaingan.

''Sekiranya polisi domestik adalah polisi optimum bagi AS, tetapi pada masa sama ia bukan polisi optimum bagi dunia, ia mungkin membawa banyak kesan negatif kepada dunia,'' menurut Ketua Bank Negara China, Zhou Xiaochuan. China melahirkan kebimbangan polisi monetari Rizab Persekutuan AS akan mengurangkan nilai dolar, menyebabkan eksport negara itu merosot. Berikutan itu, China menggesa pemantauan terhadap pergerakan dolar AS semasa mesyuarat G20 di Seoul pada minggu ini.

Standard emas dipinggirkan oleh bekas Presiden AS, Richard Nixon pada 1971 kerana nilai dolar jatuh menjunam berbanding emas. Emas dipercayai boleh membantu menangani inflasi tetapi ia tidak dibenarkan bagi polisi monetari fleksibel, yang mana kebanyakan pakar ekonomi mendakwa ia perlu dalam menangani kejutan ekonomi.

The spot price of gold rose to 1,403.88 dollars at 1720 GMT before reaching a new all-time high of 1,407.20 dollars at 1730 GMT.

Housewives huddle over jewellery counters in Yangon's bustling Chinatown, but fashion is not foremost on their minds. This is banking in Myanmar's dysfunctional economy.

On nearby Shwe Bontha Street, the heart of the gold market since colonial times, Nyan Tun is more than just a trader: he is an unofficial banker in the military-ruled country.

"Normally, the major buyers are farmers. They will buy gold with a little bit of extra money to sell before the next harvest," he said. "Second are the housewives, who love to buy jewellery as savings."

The global economic crisis may have reignited suspicion of banks worldwide, but in isolated Myanmar such distrust has long run deep and savers have no desire to put their money into the backward banking system.

Not that people have much to spare: decades of economic mismanagement by the country's rulers, plus international boycotts and sanctions, have generated a population struggling to get by and facing soaring consumer prices. Between 2005 and 2009 the annual inflation rate in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, averaged 20 percent, according to the Asian Development Bank.

"If you want to catch up with inflation, you buy gold. If you save money in the bank you lose money," said Nyan Tun.

"People have much more trust in gold as a store of value," added the trader, whose name AFP has changed at his request. In military-ruled Myanmar, saying anything seen as critical of the junta can have serious consequences. Nyan Tun said the value of a gold "tical" -- about half a troy ounce -- had increased more than 30-fold in the local currency, the kyat, since his early days as a gold trader in the late 1980s.

Sean Turnell, a specialist in Myanmar's economy at Macquarie University in Sydney, said rampant increases in consumer prices were largely a result of the government's habit of simply printing more money to fund its spending. An abundance of natural treasures -- including gold, gas, teak, oil, jade and gems -- could make the country a rich nation as it once was before coming under military rule in 1962. But Myanmar remains one of the world's least developed countries, with nearly a third of the population living below the poverty line, according to World Bank figures, as the junta and its associates exploit these raw materials for their own benefit.

"The fiscal situation should be good," said Turnell, on the basis that earnings from gas supplies should fund government spending. "But they (the military rulers) don't bring money they get from gas properly into public accounts," he said. "These funds are not recorded."

Few believe Myanmar's controversial first election in 20 years, due on November 7, will bring about much-needed economic reform, as the polls are widely expected to simply cloak military rule with civilian clothing. "The ruling class will still be the same, so there will not be big changes," said Nyan Tun, now in his 50s. However there have been some shifts in the economic landscape ahead of the election, with the junta instigating a spate of privatisations of state firms and properties.

Along with these sell-offs of assets including ports, factories and cinemas, four conglomerates on international sanctions lists and run by junta-friendly tycoons have been given licences to start up new banks. Turnell said the cronyism apparent in these recent developments suggested the country was "drifting in a really strange direction away from a totalitarian system into one that works like a semi-criminal economy".

For the average Myanmar citizen, there is still no economic stability, or decent alternative to their trustworthy treasure. "Gold has been the ultimate reserve asset, the ultimate insurance against bad government policy. It goes back to the colonial era -- it's seen as being dependable and independent of the state," said Turnell.

With the precious metal playing such a key role, the regime keeps a close eye on its trade. Nyan Tun said plain-clothed special branch police lurk on Shwe Bontha Street and pressure traders to stop selling when prices go up. "Maybe the government thinks inflation is due to the price of gold, but actually it's the other way round," he said. "The gold price is the index of inflation to citizens," agreed a business editor in Yangon who did not want to be named. "People don't know how else to judge inflation. The government gives no explanation."

Myanmar's banking system has never really recovered from a major crisis in 2003, which saw three banks completely collapse and was exacerbated by the policies of the Central Bank (CBSU.PK - news) , such as recalling loans from borrowers. People have also been hit hard in the past when the authorities scrapped certain currency units as legal tender. A mass uprising against the military in 1988, which was brutally crushed, escalated from protests over a major episode of demonetisation by the regime.

"That wiped out the savings of a huge amount of people," said Turnell. "I have never come across a single Burmese person who saves money in the banks." For now gold remains the safest haven in Myanmar -- the reason why a fishmonger will wear her savings around her neck.

"Gold: this is the only thing people trust," said the business editor.

Start saving even if only 1 gram a month and you will never regret it : )

There's a new blog giving points that can be earn when you buy things there, the points can be convert in physical gold. Just shop there and points will be given. So far the section that they have are

• Apparels
• Anticlockwise Watches and Clocks
• Gold Section
• Books
• Services
• Secondhand Stuff
• Pets
• Accessories & Gadgets

Just click on the section and you will find a lot more :)
Start shopping and redeem your gold...........

Nowadays, Malaysian is more likely to get involve in bank loan which considered as a necessity for them to have it. They tend to acquire a study loan and after they’ve graduated, entered themselves in a career world, they will definitely get a car loan,
personal loan for marriage purposes and also housing loan. From many views of Malaysian citizen, loans are mending to ease individual financial deficit. However, unfortunately, during the last quarter of Malaysian unpayable debts shows that Malaysian is having more debt than it suppose to be. The trend illustrate that, they are more willing to borrow money from banks rather than saving from their monthly income so that they can maximize their needs which means their necessities and even to obtain luxuries goods. If this trend continuously carried to the next generation of Malaysian, we might experience a country that 50% of the citizen will be blacklisted from the bank and also trying hard to pay their debt for all their life.

Furthermore, we can also take a look at the United States subprime mortgage crisis which create a major impact on their people where they are unable to pay their monthly installment and even accompanied with the prices of real estate that remain constant which cause their citizen to face a huge credit crisis and self force to live on the street at their own land. Moreover, Malaysian need to take into consideration on other alternative of saving instead of continue to borrow in order to survive where they can shift their saving strategies to precious metal in Malaysian as many banks have already long started to help Malaysian realize that they can save their money in other ways instead of depending on bank loans in order for them to maximize their needs and wants. Further more, our government should invest more on precious metal industries starting with mining, refinery and even minting as the price of precious metal such as gold are keep bullish in the international market since money is no longer back by gold in 1971. So if we want to achieve the status of high income and develop country before 2020 we should follow China that advising their people to save in gold as the metal is hedge against inflation and hedge against failing currencies. If we can advise people here to start save in gold from now, we can lead Malaysian stop keep on making credit and generate the GDP from public spending and saving or from premium earn from investing in gold.

The issues that we can point out are that, try to spend based on what you earn or save and stop depending on loans because at some point people will face difficulty to paying their installment and trap in " The Web of Debt ".

Objective:

The objective of this research is to show the disadvantage of bank loans in the long run that people always tend to miss out which starts from studies loan, personal loan, car loan and housing loan. Apart from the negative side of bank loan, it also explains and examines the effectiveness of saving in gold to maximize ones wealth rather than believe by obtaining bank loan will ease ones personal deficit and by showing people that buying necessities and luxuries using monthly saving has less risk compared to signing for loans.

Adam Sharif

The obvious question that surfaced on this topic is how the position of Gold can functionally be an alternative for the present society to save their money. As we know that nowadays there is a wide range of disparity between poor society and rich society across the country regardless of developed or developing countries. Rich society will tend to become richer because they have more fiat money which means they have more savings that will generate growth through their investment activities. Poor society will be left behind due to less of savings which mean they have less fiat money, thus will generate slight growth. The existence of downturn in economic growth will lead to a fall in the value of the currency (fiat money) and furthermore there is a difference in the value of currency of yesterday and today with the presence of increase in inflation rate. Moreover, most of the society in Malaysia chooses to earn an additional income from investing or diversifying their fiat money in many types of well known financial instrument such as in Bonds, Fixed Deposit and ASB (Amanah Saham Berhad) in order for them to acquire a return on investment according to a specific duration (long term or short term) and amount. However, most of them didn’t even realize the fall in the value of fiat money and the increase in inflation rate and this is because they always experience a shortage of fiat money or their savings even though they believe that the rate of return on investment is considered high.

Financial instrument such as bonds, fixed deposit and ASB shares more or less similar characteristic and risk regardless of less risk or high risk. Bonds are mostly known that it is backed with the trust of the government, in case the governments dissolve, the money is still safe. However, it is known that bonds offer a worst return or generally very low interest (EconomyWatch), even though some says that if “you pay more, you save more”, at the end of the day, your return is still low due to its fixed rate and inconsistency and the fall in value of the currency, same goes to fixed deposit and ASB as the return will be eroded by inflation and you might obtain a negative return after taking into account tax and inflation. The problem from this is that if your returns do not match or surpass inflation and after tax, your money is losing value.

In addition, Gold can be considered as a saving alternative and also it gives advantage to the poor society to actually have an additional income because unlike other financial instruments, gold does not have a minimum deposit requirement, instead you just buy at a price based on its value in which the price of gold increase over time and has a constant fluctuation. Regardless of crisis such as political and economic uncertainty or recession, it definitely raises panic among the investors who try to find ways on different strategies to save their money or capital and it always comes back to gold which is because of its reliability, stable and liquid instrument of capital and its future saving compared to other financial instrument and also it is well known with its value in itself.

Gold is a perfect hedge for inflation which means buying power of money will falls due to inflation but the gold price rises and even surpassing inflation. We knew that the steps that the governments take to fight the downturn will lead to inflation and it will somehow cause the value of money to drop. A weakened currency is gold’s best friends (Tim Middleton, 2009). It is a common knowledge that gold is a reliable financial instrument in terms of saving and increase of income. Furthermore, China has been encouraging their citizen to consume gold for savings and also for the future consumption. Most of the society in these present days suffers from inflation which means the increase in the price of goods and that is why their fiat money will not be enough even they choose to plant it in a high rate of return financial instruments.

Hamizah Azmi