KL cuts machinery imports

KL cuts machinery imports

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said yesterday the government may impose import restrictions on heavy equipment in an effort to nail the worsening balance of payments deficit.

Mahathir said imports of heavy machinery such as cranes, excavators and bulldozers had contributed significantly to the country's balance of payments deficit.

"At the moment, we want traders to voluntarily stop importing the machinery but if they don't, we are thinking of putting restrictions on the import," the premier said.

"Traders must realize that this deficit is a national problem and it will affect the traders themselves later on," he was reported as saying by Bernama news agency in eastern Sarawak state on Borneo island.

Mahathir said that if traders kept buying and "keep on with the bad habit, the deficit will never go away."