KUALA LUMPUR (June 20): Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Aziz is the first banker and non-politician to be named Malaysia’s Finance Minister.

“I thought coming in as an outsider to the Cabinet would be a challenge, because I am not a politician. But surprisingly, I guess because of Covid-19, everyone is united in trying to tackle it,” said the former CEO of CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, who turns 47 this week.

In a candid interview with The Edge on the evening of June 18 — his 100th day in office — Zafrul spoke on a wide range of topics from the economy to government-linked-company appointments, Khazanah Nasional Bhd’s mandate and the woes of Malaysia Airlines Bhd and AirAsia Group Bhd.

Read our cover story this week to know more about what Zafrul has to say about the country’s fiscal deficit position, interest rate cuts, bank moratorium on loans, bail-outs, the possibility of more stimulus to combat the effects of Covid-19 and how the economy might perform in the second half of this year.

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