CORONAVIRUS | Bersatu supreme council member A Kadir Jasin said while the RM250 billion government stimulus plan appears huge, scrutinising the finer details has revealed that less than 10 percent involved direct aid from the government.
Citing "expert's analysis" which he had rewritten for clarity, Kadir (photo) zoomed in on Muhyiddin Yassin's "Makcik Kiah" example where the prime minister said someone like her would stand to save RM4,464 from the slew of measures on the stimulus plan aimed at providing economic relief amid the Covid-19 crisis.
"Muhyiddin said with what he had announced, Makcik Kiah's family would save RM4,464. But the real saving is only RM864 because the car loan (RM1,800), Higher Education Loan Fund (RM1,200), microcredit (loan) (RM600) totalling RM3,600 must, in the end, be repaid.
"Makcik Kiah will only be saving RM744 in people's housing project rent and RM120 in electricity bill for a month," he said in a blog post.
Yesterday, Muhyiddin use the "Makcik Kiah" example to highlight the slew of measures announced by the government.
“Take, for example, Makcik Kiah a pisang goreng hawker, who stays in Desa Tun Razak PPR flats, her husband is a retired government official who works as a Grab driver while their child is studying on a PTPTN loan. They have a household income of under RM4,000 a month.
"Makcik’s Kiah's family will receive a Bayaran Prihatin Nasional payment of RM1,600, a Bantuan Sara Hidup (cost of living aid) of RM600, pensioner assistance of RM500 and e-hailing cash assistance of RM500.
"If her husband serves in Rela, he will earn an additional RM200 a month until the outbreak ends. Thus, the entire cash supply that Makcik Kiah's family will be boosted by RM3,400," Muhyiddin said.
Also, Makcik Kiah's family will be able to save on PPR rent for up to six months for a maximum month of RM744, enjoy a suspension of car payments for six months for up to RM1800, and save on electricity bills for six months for up to RM120.
He added, that her child will also be able to save due to delayed repayment of the PTPTN loan for six months for a figure up to RM1,200.
Muhyiddin said if Makcik Kiah has a microcredit loan for her business with a loan repayment rate of RM100 a month, Auntie Kiah will be able to save an additional RM600.
The total savings, therefore, are RM4,464, he added.
Kadir said the money coming from the government amounts to only about RM22 billion and this includes one-off direct cash transfer such as Bayaran Prihatin Nasional and Bantuan Sara Hidup payment.
Furthermore, he added that Putrajaya is only offering a RM600 subsidy per employee to encourage employers not to retrench them.
In contrast, he said the Singapore government is offering up to 75 percent of their salary. If the salary is S$4,500, the Singapore government will pay S$3,375 for nine months.
"For us, we're only giving RM600 for three months. This is not enough to prevent millions of factory workers from losing their jobs," he said.
Therefore, Kadir said "Makcik Kiah" shouldn't be misled by the stimulus plan which he claims fall short.
Meanwhile, Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Abdul Karim urged Muhyiddin to allow the stimulus plan, which was unveiled yesterday, to go through Parliament.
He pointed out a similar stimulus plan in the US, amounting to US$2 trillion, was tabled in the Senate and received bipartisan approval.
He questioned how Muhyiddin could announce the measures without going through Parliament.
While acknowledging the urgency of the stimulus plan, he said it must still comply with the law.
"The government must be transparent as these are public funds," he said. - Mkini
If our PM doesnt know how to add thing up then how can he stimulate our economy. Ask Makcik Kiah true or not.
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