PEMANDU: Malaysians income increased by 49%! Really? (Part 1)

- relevant to F8 and P7 Candidates.  

Pic 01: Country's Top Think Tank Economic Body

The acronym that the Performance Management and Delivery Unit within the prime minister’s department is better known by. PEMANDU is the government agency that created and is now steering the Economic Transformation Programme or ETP.

Pic 02: Top PEMANDU Spokesperson Idris Jala

The 2012 ETP Annual Report states “The country’s GNI per capita has risen from US$6,700 in 2009 to US$9,970* in 2012. This represents a 48.8 per cent surge in just a two-year period. Based on current projections and “barring unforeseen circumstances”, this gives Malaysia the potential to achieve a GNI per capita of US$15,000 earlier than the 2020 target.

Pic 03: Forex Currency - Majority Malaysians use Ringgit Malaysia

Performing Tests of Details:

 

[1] PEMANDU still cannot get its basic math and data right. It said (nominal) GNI per capita hit US$9,970 in 2012, but also said it was RM30,809 and the exchange rate was RM3.058:US$1. However, at that exchange rate, RM30,809 is equivalent to US$10,075. It is shocking that this high-powered unit cannot even get the basics correct;

Pic 04 : Baby hard at work, "Ummmm... 4 x 1 = 92. Mom will be so proud of me."

[2] PEMANDU is a local government body operating in Malaysia, there is no reason for translation on foreign exchange for it ISN’T in accordance to IAS 21: The Effects of Changes In Foreign Exchange Rates states that the “Functional currency: the currency of the primary economic environment in which the entity operates.”

Pic 05: IAS 21: Which Currency are Malaysians using?

Is PEMANDU primary economic environment in US$ or RM? The answer is obvious. So why does the Prime Minister Department quote Malaysia’s average income earnings in US$? Is it because at US$ has weakened against the currency of the rest of the world, so its opportunity to OVERSTATE Malaysia’s earnings? 


Conclusion
You see, what you are studying in F8 and P7 are extremely relevant to the real world of macro-management. The government of the day should practice better Governance and install plus review internal controls so as not to repeat such follies. 

Sources: 
http://refsa.org/, 2013, Reports on ETP, Visited; 11th April

http://etp.pemandu.gov.my/annualreport/, 2013, Annual Report, Visited: 11th April.