KUALA LUMPUR – Economic sectors can resume normal operations only when herd immunity against Covid-19 is achieved, said National Budget Office director Datuk Johan Mahmood Merican.
He said Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s emphasis on public health can be seen through the Pemerkasa Plus stimulus package and expedited vaccinations, adding that it was the responsibility of Malaysians to ensure herd immunity could be reached so that the lockdown is not prolonged.
“The government can assist only so much (through the stimulus packages) but if the economic shutdown persists, the assistance from the government cannot help or replace the loss of income entirely,” he said in an interview on Bernama TV’s Ruang Bicara programme themed “Pemerkasa Plus a Continuous Assistance for Affected Groups” last night.
On May 31, Muhyiddin unveiled the Pemerkasa Plus – the seventh government stimulus measure since the pandemic – worth RM40 billion to complement previous economic aid and stimulus packages, with three main objectives namely enhancing public health capacity with an allocation of RM1 billion, pursuing the Prihatin agenda (RM33 billion), and supporting business sustainability (RM6 billion).
Johan brushed aside suggestions that the Pemerkasa Plus stimulus package only focused on households in the bottom 40% income group (B40) and neglected the welfare of households in the middle 40% income group (M40).
“The assistance provided is with the objective of helping those affected, namely those in the low-income category.
“I am not unsympathetic to the M40 or T20 (households whose income is in the top 20%) groups, but the fact is that when there is a crisis of this nature (pandemic), a situation where the economy has to close, those who are (most) affected are the low-income earners,” he said.
Johan said it should be noted that under Budget 2021 and the six stimulus packages announced earlier, assistance had been channelled to the M40 group whom he believed had benefited more than what the B40 group was receiving this time around.
Asked whether the government should halt the aid up to a certain point as it cannot go on forever, Johan said such stimulus packages were temporary in nature and only given when the country was in crisis.
“It cannot be done continuously because all these (stimulus packages) were financed by loans. These loans will eventually have to be repaid. As such, the assistance is intended for this moment – Covid-19 – when the economy cannot be opened normally and many are unable to earn a living,” he said.
Johan said since Covid-19 hit the country, the government had introduced various assistance and economic stimulus packages amounting to RM340 billion and so far, they had benefited more than 20 million households and more than two million businesses with an economic injection of more than RM200 billion. – Bernama, June 11, 2021
