Thing's won't be the same after MCO, resilience needed for challenges ahead - Azmin

CORONAVIRUS | International Trade and Industry Minister Azmin Ali today cautioned that things won't be the same even after the end of the movement control order (MCO), stressing that resilience is needed to face the challenges ahead.

"After the MCO, even though the situation will be tougher and different from what it was before, we need resilience in facing the challenges ahead," he told an interview on TV1.

Elaborating on the RM250 billion economic stimulus plan announced by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday, Azmin said the government cannot go to the villages and tell "Makcik Kiah" that she cannot get any help because the country's deficit would climb to four percent.

"Makcik Kiah" was an example used by Muhyiddin in his speech yesterday to highlight what benefits a regular Malaysian can get from the stimulus plan.

However, Azmin said the government would need to adjust its spending in the near future.

"The priority is to help the people, then later, we will look into making fiscal room for the long term," said Azmin, who is also a senior coordinating minister.

Azmin said around RM25 billion of the stimulus plan involves direct injection from the government but said the remaining amount of the stimulus plan is also important as they are intended to keep businesses afloat.

"Even though the fiscal injection is RM25 billion that will benefit the people, the other parts are to strengthen businesses as companies are also affected, not just individuals.

"We do not want them to end up retrenching workers that will cause bigger problems. If they retrench workers now, when the economic turmoil ends - perhaps at the end of the year - it will need longer to rebuild the human resource capacity.

"To save the workers, the government needed to help the companies with their cash flow," he said.

While many have hailed the stimulus plan, some have criticised that only a small part involved direct cash transfer while the rest were mostly deferments such as the six-month moratorium on loan payments.

Azmin stressed that the stimulus plan was drafted after carefully considering the country's fiscal position. - Mkini