KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 31 ― Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) achievements in steering the country’s growth and reducing the fiscal deficit were overshadowed by political news.

In an interview with the Fitch Ratings on Wednesday, Lim said the political buzz surrounding PH is merely "noise”, and that the coalition was forced to expend resources to combat fake news.

He said that policy announcements by PH so far have been consistent, clear, and certain.

"At the same time we see actions taken by the government. It shows that we want to ensure civil rules, we want to be business friendly and we want a destination of choice for investors... we want to do the right thing, get the policy in the right mix to get Malaysia going again.

"But again when you talk about the political situation, the background noise, the media report, we have the same problem as the US, fake news.

"We have to spend some time to correct or dispel  the fake news. But the fact is there is stability at the top. The government is working cohesively and in concept together,” he told Fitch Ratings’ head of sovereign ratings for Asia-Pacific Stephen Schwartz.

Lim also said that the government’s economic reforms will not be jeopardised by a power transition.

Lim said PH has proven its commitment to reforms.

"Our prime minister (Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad) has said many times that the coalition that was only worked out only a few months before election can still work and everyone is committed in making this government work even after the transition process is executed.

"I will still tell investors do not worry even if there is a change of leadership (in the government). Just look at our policy document, the Pakatan Harapan general election manifesto. This is where they will judge us. And we are committed to deliver our promises,” he said.

Before 2018 general election, PH outlined a transition plan for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to succeed Dr Mahathir.

The coalition has since said there is no timeline for this to happen but Dr Mahathir has hinted that any change will come after Malaysia’s hosting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in November.

In the hour interview, Lim talked about Malaysia’s macro-economic outlook, budget policies, political risks, governance reforms and Malaysia’s role on the international stage.

Fitch Ratings, in its 2020 Outlook, reported a stable outlook for Malaysian banks’ credit ratings and the sector this year.

However the rating agency stated the risks to watch out for Malaysian banks are net interest margin pressures, select loan weaknesses and trade or macro tensions.

It noted the rating outlooks for banks in the country generally remain stable due to solid capitalisation levels and asset-quality stability.

Last July, Fitch Ratings gave Malaysia sovereign credit ratings at A- with a stable outlook.

Meanwhile, Moody's Investors Service has reaffirmed Malaysia’s credit profile of A3 with a stable outlook.

Moody’s said the rating was supported by the country’s large, diversified and competitive economy, strong medium-term growth prospects compared with similarly rated peers and ample natural resources.