With Covid-19 jab comes public confidence to go out and spend: Tok Pa

KUALA LUMPUR – The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme will help restore business confidence and improve the country’s economic growth, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.

As more Malaysians get vaccinated against the coronavirus, he said, an increasing number of consumers will be confident about going out and spending, in turn, reviving confidence among businesses.

“When the majority of Malaysians have been inoculated under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, certain quarters – say, for example, the government – can consider relaxing the standard operating procedures,” he told the Agenda Awani TV programme aired last night.

The vaccination drive was launched on February 24, with Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin receiving his first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech jab in Putrajaya.

The programme is divided into three phases, with more than 500,000 frontliners to be inoculated under Phase 1, which runs till next month.

Phase 2, from April to August, will cover 9.4 million individuals in high-risk groups, including those aged 65 and above.

Phase 3, for adults aged 18 and above, will be carried out from May till next February, involving some 13.7 million people. 

Mustapa said Putrajaya projects that the gross domestic product will grow between 6.5% and 7.5% this year, partly attributable to the vaccine roll-out.

“When more people have received the vaccine, more sectors, including the services sector, will be reopened.”

He said the tourism industry will be positively impacted by the status change to the conditional movement control order in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Johor and Penang from March 5 to 18, and the easing of inter-district travel curbs.

Besides the inoculation drive, he said, the future of Malaysia’s economy is also looking bright thanks to the global recovery and rising prices of commodities, including crude palm oil, which recently hit RM3,800 per tonne, and Brent crude, which rose above US$62 (RM251) per barrel. – Bernama, March 3, 2021