Umno and DAP pan MCO 2.0 aid package, claim it falls short

 

The economic relief package unveiled by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday has come under fire from both Umno and DAP.

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, in separate statements, claim the package fell short.

Dubbed Permai, short for Perlindungan Ekonomi dan Rakyat Malaysia (protection of Malaysia's economy and its people), it is intended to provide relief to the hardest-hit communities as large parts of the country were put under a second movement control order (MCO 2.0).

Lim said the RM15 billion aid package was too little and a far cry from the total RM305 billion allocated at the beginning of the pandemic last year.

The former finance minister noted the amount also does not comprise any fresh fiscal injections, unlike the RM45 billion announced to mitigate the impact of the first movement control order.

"Despite such measures, the economy still slipped into recession and recorded the highest unemployment rate in decades of 4.8 percent in November 2020.

"How can an RM15 billion aid package, with an estimated direct spending of a mere RM3.87 billion, re-purposed or re-directed from existing spending priorities, help our economy to recover?" Lim asked.

He noted that the amount announced is also far less than RM45 billion stimulus package proposed by Harapan to overcome the current economic recession to save jobs and businesses.

"This 'old wine in new bottle' approach can be seen by Muhyiddin’s own admission that the funds required is not new money, but re-allocated from existing funds in Budget 2021.

"As there is no fresh fiscal injection into the economy under Permai, there is a minimal significant impact on economic growth to lift our economy out of the recession," the Bagan MP argued.

Lim said Muhyiddin must be ignorant or wrongly advised to believe that reopening more businesses under MCO 2.0 would lessen the impact on the economy.

"After MCO 1.0, the GDP growth plunged by a negative 17.1 percent in the second quarter of 2020.

"If the economy plunges by two percent in either the first or second quarter for this year, this cannot be good for the Malaysian economy when, in relative terms, robust economic growth this year was expected," he said.

Lim further questioned the absence of rental reliefs or subsidy for businesses suffering without any income.

To foot the latest round of aid packages, Muhyiddin said a recalibration of allocations was necessary, suggesting that Budget 2021 would be changed.

MCO 2.0, aimed at controlling movement to curb the spread of Covid-19, came into effect on Jan 13 and will last until Jan 26, with the possibility of an extension.

Meanwhile, Zahid said Umno supported any form of assistance from the government but added that it was not enough.

"The people are grateful for cash aid but part of what was announced yesterday was already announced before this except that it will now be expedited," he said.

He questioned how long the aid can last, pointing out that it took five months to bring Covid-19 under control during the first MCO which saw three-digit daily cases.

"How long will it take for the MCO 2.0 to reduce the infection rate which is at more than 3,000 daily?" he asked.

Zahid reiterated Umno's call for automatic loan moratorium and unconditional withdrawal from the Employees Provident Fund to assist the people during the partial lockdown. - Mkini