GEORGE TOWN: The BN is smearing Penang’s bullish Gross Domestic Product (GDP) numbers achieved during Pakatan rule by using incorrect economic data, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said.

He claimed Penang had the lowest growth in 2007 during BN’s rule in the state and it was the Pakatan-led government that turned the tide for the state over the last eight years.

Lim added Penang was the No 1 state in terms of GDP per capita in 2014 and 2015 consecutively.

“Penang’s GDP of 8 per cent was higher than the national GDP of 6 per cent in 2014 .

“Last year, there was a slight drop to 5.5 per cent, while the country’s national GDP remained at 6 per cent,” he told reporters at Komtar today.

Lim said it was unfair for BN to selectively choose a sample based on the worst-performing period as their point of argument.

He said the numbers from the Statistics Department backed the upward trend recorded by the state, but BN leaders chose to use incorrect data.

“Let this be dealt with by experts, but not politicians who try to manipulate and distort data so that they can paint a false narrative that Penang is a failed state.

“There are some politicians who are pretending to be Nobel laureates in Economics, who are so keen on highlighting the difference.

“They have used wrong and outdated samples of economic data. That is BN. ‘Gemilang, cemerlang, terbilang’ (excellent, brilliant and illustrious), tapi sebenarnya tembelang (‘but in reality, they are confused’).”

Meanwhile, Lim provided “indisputable” GDP numbers prepared by economists in state think-tank Penang Institute in reply to detractors who had disputed the earlier facts.

“I have verified these figures with Penang Institute Chief Executive Officer Dr Lim Kim Hwa, who has a doctorate in economics from Cambridge University.

“Kim Hwa confirms that Penang went from bottom state in 2007 to national champion in 2015.

“Or is the Penang BN Chairman Teng Chang Yeow, with no degree in economics, better than Kim Hwa? Or, similarly, is their Simpang Rengam MP Liang Teck Meng better than Dr Ong Kian Ming?

“BN has tried to obliterate Penang’s singular success in financial management … which has even attracted praise from the annual Auditor-General’s Reports as well as Transparency International (TI).

“In the last year of BN ruling Penang, in the year 2007, Penang was the bottom state by recording the lowest growth rate for per capita GDP in the country,” Lim said.

On Saturday, Penang BN Chairman Teng Chang Yeow had blasted Lim for confusing people with the state’s economic data, with Teng stating Penang had fared badly economically.

Lim had earlier said during Pakatan’s eight-year tenure, from March 2008, his government had managed to bring Penang from the bottom to top place in terms of GDP per capita in 2014 and 2015.