ANNOUNCEMENTS on new taxes and a painful Budget 2019 are just the excuses for investors to take their money out of Bursa Malaysia. The fact that Budget 2019 will not have generous handouts is well-known. The writing has been on the wall since May 9 this year when existing government jobs came under scrutiny.

Construction projects saw massive cuts or were being shelved on the back of the country being saddled with a debt of up to RM1 trillion. The era of debt-fuelled economic growth is over.

As for new taxes, the Ministry of Finance had on Sept 14 this year announced that the country would have new taxes and has set up a high-powered committee.

The selldown of stocks on Bursa Malaysia, which is down only 3.7% year-to-date, is long overdue for several reasons.

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