KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia has the right formula to position itself on the path to recovery, both in terms of public health and the economy, said Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz.
He said the combination of the recent decisions on the overnight policy rate (OPR) and the statutory reserve requirement (SRR), as well as Budget 2021 initiatives and the Malaysian Economic and Rakyat’s Protection (Permai) relief package – including the the expediting of vaccine procurement and encouraging screening of employees – are part of this formula.
“Most importantly, the measures must be seen in totality, not in isolation,” he said in presenting the 37th Implementation and Coordination Unit Between National Agencies (Laksana) report today.
He added that the government is committed to doing its best to contain the Covid-19 pandemic and ensure continuity of the economic recovery process.
Tengku Zafrul described as “appropriate” the decision by Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) Monetary Policy Committee yesterday to maintain the OPR at 1.75%.
“(This is) considering multiple government measures through the National Economic Recovery Plan (Penjana) and Prihatin supplementary initiative package (Kita Prihatin) packages, as well as Budget 2021 are still continuing or will commence,” he said.
He said measures that have been and will continue to be implemented include loan moratoriums, special grants, the wage subsidy programme and soft loans for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
On the central bank’s announcement yesterday to extend the flexibility for banking institutions to utilise Malaysian Government Securities and Malaysian Government Investment Issues to fulfil the SRR until December 31, 2022, he said: “This step ensures ample liquidity to support financial and economic activities.”
On the RM2 billion Penjana SME financing, Tengku Zafrul said 6,139 applications have been approved with a total financing value of RM1.18 billion as of January 8, compared with 5,976 applications with a total financing value of RM1.15 billion a week earlier.
Several applications were cancelled for the Penjana tourism financing plan, leading to a small drop in the number of approved applications to 271 from 272 as of January 1, but the value was up at RM54.9 million from RM54.8 million previously.
As for the Penjana credit micro financing plan under Bank Simpanan Nasional, Tengku Zafrul said RM320 million has been channelled to benefit 9,358 micro SMEs, including in retail and services, as of January 8.
Meanwhile, 389 SMEs have received RM105.6 million in funds from the Bumiputera Relief Financing (BRF) scheme, which is managed by Perbadanan Usahawan Nasional Bhd (PUNB), as of January 8.
To support the agriculture and food industry, RM71.3 million benefitting 6,748 micro SMEs have been channelled under the agrobank micro credit financing plan, he said.
On the Employees Provident Fund’s (EPF) i-Sinar facility, the minister said 4.8 million applications under Category 1 have been received as of yesterday, with 3.18 million applications totalling RM25.3 billion approved.
“Members whose applications were approved will receive a total of RM13 billion this month.” – Bernama, January 21, 2021
