Pemulih: Expecting Recovery with Placebo?

The PM made a grand appearance and outlined his Pemulih package on 28 June 2021. Essentially it is supposed to have the following:

 

·         Direct fiscal injection of RM10b which is 7% of the total package of RM150b;

 

·         There is no sector help like hotels, property, aviation etc. Many of these and SMEs are going under. Even Syed Mokhtar has given up on Istana Hotel;

 

·         A paltry one-off cash assistance of RM500 in August to B40 is woefully inadequate;

·         M40 households are to receive RM250 in August – that assumes they can survive for the rest of the year;

·         RM500 to those who have lost their jobs (based on EPF/Socso data);

·         Government allows withdrawal of RM1,000 per month over five months under EPF’s i-Citra – that wipes out the retirement savings;

·         MPs get RM300,000 for food basket assistance. Will they support the white flags?

·         RM10m for food basket program for indigenous peoples – no mention when they will receive this;

·         Micro SMEs to receive RM500 in September and another RM500 in November – a token display for Makcik Kiah;

·         RM3,000 “one-off” assistance to 5,300 registered travel agencies in Phase 3 – that assumes we can move from Phase 1; and

·         Then there are others on mobile banks, free daily data, vaccination centers and the like – which will not help the ordinary folks or SMEs;

 

A lot of “smoke and mirrors” that even ordinary people can sense the deception. Businesses need a loan moratorium to year end or when Phase 3 begins; rental support or moratorium on rental/evictions; a targeted Wage Subsidy Program that assists SMEs to keep employees on payroll.

And with the new EMCO for Selangor/Kelang Valley, which contributes 40% of the nation’s GDP, there will be greater collapse of SMEs. Unemployment will exceed one million and under-employment twice that. Then the predicted GDP growth of 4.5% by The World Bank will look like more wishful thinking!

Source: https://www.penagraduan.com/2021/06/pakej-pemulih-senarai-pakej.html

Reference:

Highlights of the Pemulih Package, theedgemarkets.com (June 28, 2021)