Full lockdown best but will cost half a trillion, says PM

 

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said the economy might not recover if another full lockdown was enforced. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said tonight a new full lockdown had been recommended but would have cost the government as much as half a trillion ringgit in support measures to prop up the economy.

Muhyiddin’s government has faced pressure to impose another full lockdown in the face of rising Covid-19 infections, which have gone past 6,000 new cases a day.

He said a balance between lives and livelihood had to be taken into account in deciding on the implementation of the movement control order to ensure that the people are not badly affected.

That was why the government decided not to enforce a total lockdown this time because it would cause more people to lose their jobs, leaving them unable to revive their lives and the economy.

He said the health ministry had said a total lockdown was the best measure to take. However, the government announced tighter restrictions on movements and business hours, and enforced stricter stay-at-home and work-from-home measures.

Muhyiddin noted that the government had spent RM340 billion last year in six stimulus packages to revive the economy.

“That is not a small sum, never happened in the country. We used 20% of the country’s gross domestic product to help the people. This is what the people must understand. If we do that (close all economic sectors), we will have a big problem, then the country won’t be able to recover,” he said in a special media interview, according to Bernama.

Muhyiddin said the closure of all economic sectors from March 18 to May 3 last year caused losses of about RM2.4 billion a day.

A new lockdown would probably require up to RM500 billion, or half-a-trillion ringgit, to help the people and revive the nation’s economy, he said.

“We can close (all economic sectors), but when we reopen, the system may collapse because we have to reopen i-sinar, provide Prihatin aid, moratoriums and others. Can the government afford this? Can, but not as much.

“I don’t want to see my people losing their lives because of my complacency or theirs. I also do not want our economy to collapse,” he said.

Instead of a full lockdown, he urged the people to practise self-lockdowns. “Some keep asking why not implement a total lockdown? Do your own lockdown, stay at home and tell others to do the same thing. The best is we cooperate, no need to blame each other, find a way,” he said.

Efforts to flatten the curve of infections was the responsibility of everyone. “Accept the fact that this is our problem, our approach is not whole of government, it is whole of society,” he said. - FMT