Capital Markets

Malaysia’s new finance minister thinks the country’s recent elections were a Berlin Wall-style moment for the country. If Malaysia is to make a fresh start, does Lim Guan Eng have the tools he needs?

The country is famously extending its reach across the Eurasian continent, building infrastructure and more for the benefit of itself and the countries the Silk Road passes through.

It is perhaps no surprise that in a supposedly democratic nation that has been ruled by generals for 33 of its 71 years of independence, the military has an outsized role in Pakistan’s economy.

The world sees Rodrigo Duterte as a hothead populist, waging a bloody drugs war against insurgents, but to most of his compatriots, he’s the reformer the country needs. His aims, including shaking up taxes to pay for infrastructure and targeting an energy revolution, are bold. His choices for the crucial finance ministry and central bank roles look sound. But will they succeed?