{"id":3772,"date":"2020-05-02T22:42:59","date_gmt":"2020-05-02T14:42:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/?p=3772"},"modified":"2020-05-03T06:43:39","modified_gmt":"2020-05-02T22:43:39","slug":"partial-reopening-of-economy-is-not-done-in-haste-tengku-zafrul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/?p=3772","title":{"rendered":"Partial reopening of economy is not done in haste – Tengku Zafrul"},"content":{"rendered":"
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KUALA LUMPUR, May\u00a02 – The government\u2019s move to allow partial resumption of economic activities during\u00a0the fourth phase of the\u00a0Movement Control Order (MCO) is not done in haste, as it has made the\u00a0necessary\u00a0study and complies with conditions set by the World Heath\u00a0Organisation (WHO).<\/p>\n

Finance Minister\u00a0Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz said the government, however, is not forcing any company to start operations immediately, as there may be those\u00a0that need to make prior preparations to meet\u00a0conditions set by the government.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs an example, for restaurants, owners must ensure the premises are clean and so on\u2026. So it\u2019s\u00a0not necessary for all parts of the economy to be opened on Monday,\u201d he said during the Eksklusif TV3 programme\u00a0aired today.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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WHO cited\u00a0six criteria for countries considering to lift restrictions, including having the health system capacities in place\u00a0to detect, test, isolate and treat every case and trace every contact.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Tengku Zafrul said the country is currently using only\u00a030 per cent of the capacity.<\/p>\n

He said the government has a six-phase plan for\u00a0reopening economy —\u00a0Resolve, Resilience, Restart, Recovery, Revitalise and\u00a0Reform (6R) — and the country is in the third\u00a0phase, which is\u00a0Restart.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“We hope that before the end of May, Prime Minister (Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin) will announce the details of the\u00a0recovery plan.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“Every industry is impacted differently. For example, tourism\u00a0is the industry worst hit by COVID-19 so we have a different plan for that industry,” he explained.<\/p>\n

Asked on the rates of unemployment and business closures,\u00a0Tengku Zafrul said these are\u00a0happening not just in Malaysia but also in the United States and Europe which are hit by\u00a0high unemployment rates.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Nonetheless, he said,\u00a0the government is trying to keep as many people employed as possible by launching\u00a0a wage subsidy programme with a RM13.8\u00a0billion allocation under the Prihatin Rakyat Economic Stimulus Package (initially RM5.9 billion was allocated but the amount was increased by RM7.9 billion under the Additional Prihatin SME Economic Stimulus\u00a0Package).<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Social Security Organisation\u00a0(Socso) made a forecast that\u00a0500,000 employees would\u00a0be affected (become unemployed), but it would be worse if we had not launched the Prihatin\u00a0package,” he said.<\/p>\n

Tengku Zafrul said the country\u2019s gross domestic product (GDP) may fall by three to four per cent following the extension of the MCO to more than five weeks, compared with Bank Negara Malaysia\u2019s GDP growth forecast of -2 per cent to 0.5 per cent after just two weeks of the MCO.<\/p>\n

Last year, GDP grew by 4.3 per cent compared with the year earlier.<\/p>\n

On the national debt-to-GDP ratio, he said it stands\u00a0at\u00a0about 51 per cent now versus the ceiling of 55 per cent, so it is still two to three per cent below the limit set.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also have a foreign debt ceiling, which is\u00a0RM35 billion, so we still have some room there (as well),\u201d said the minister.<\/p>\n

On the 2020 budget deficit, he said it is currently estimated at about 4.7 per cent following the introduction of the Prihatin packages, but the figure may rise a little to 5 per cent due to the low crude prices.<\/p>\n

For their long-term planning, he also advised companies and the small and medium enterprises to invest in the digital field and equip themselves with the right skills set towards Industry 4.0.<\/p>\n

– BERNAMA<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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