Malaysia's new finance minister has a 'stellar' economic record in Penang - Channel NewsAsia: KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's finance minister, relatively unknown in international financial circles, is a man he threw into prison twice.
Mahathir announced three top cabinet posts on Saturday (May 12), including Lim Guan Eng, a former banker and chartered accountant, as finance minister. It was only the third time in the country's six decades since independence that the post has gone to a person from the ethnic Chinese minority.
The portfolio was previously headed by former Prime Minister Najib Razak, who was handed a thumping defeat by Mahathir's alliance in Wednesday's general election.
Lim, 58, is best known in Malaysia for being the chief minister of Penang, the second richest state in the country and home to a popular tourist island and industrial port.
But economic analysts say he may need more than that at a time the country needs to make sweeping economic and fiscal reforms and reassure markets that the political change will not have an economic impact.
Malaysian markets have been closed since the election, but overseas investors have been nervous of what lies ahead because of Mahathir's populist promises.
As finance minister, Lim will b
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