PKR vice-president Xavier Jayakumar has urged the government to initiate a second economic stimulus package to deal with the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak, suspend the stock exchange for two weeks and cap the value of ringgit, among others.
“As the movement control order (MCO) period goes on, it seems the government of the day, despite its daily meetings, is slow in implementing vital measures needed to stem the economic freefall.
“They have rather decided to employ a wait-and-see attitude while our stock markets are going through a freefall.
“At this juncture, it is very clear the present situation is not due to weak fundamentals but rather a systemic downturn in the global economic outlook,” he said in a statement on Facebook today.
With such circumstances, Xavier said he was concerned that the economic stimulus package worth RM20 billion which was announced on Feb 27 by then-interim prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad would not be sufficient to cushion the effects of the Covid-19 outbreak.
As such, he has made a series of suggestions to the new government which he said should “take the bull by the horns and make some bold decisions”.
Besides proposing that the government suspend the stock exchange for two weeks, initiate and launch a second stimulus package to help prop up the economy as well as cap the value of ringgit, Xavier also said they should tap into the treasury to help bolster the market, consider obtaining low-interest-rate loans such as samurai or panda bonds to shore up finances and to rope in Employees’ Provident Fund, Permodalan Nasional Bhd and Khazanah Nasional to inject funds into the stock market.
The government should also look into creating safety nets for both employers and employees, especially for the B40 group and small and medium enterprises, he said.
Xavier added that they could even look into setting up a consolidated fund or company to help fund the dire needs of the economy, both corporate and retail.
He said Malaysia’s economic fundamentals are still strong and intact despite the present global challenges.
“I am certain that companies with large capitals will be able to work hand in hand with the government in these crucial and challenging times.
“Do it now before it’s too late,” he said.
Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had declared a movement control order on Sunday night, effective March 18 to March 31, in an attempt to curb the Covid-19 outbreak.
Yesterday, there were 110 new confirmed positive cases for Covid-19 in Malaysia, bringing the total to 900 cases. - Mkini
MR Xavier you are talking about stimulus package n why not you say something about how poor families will go through this lockdown time.If lockdown going to be continued how poor n jobless rakyat going to survive?Government must allow us to withdraw some money from our EPF saving to go through this hard time.ppl can die from covid-19 n remember ppl can also die from hunger! This is more important.
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