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MORE than two months ago, I wrote about the importance of lives and livelihoods in fighting the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic and how, when it comes to crisis, lives must always come first.
The article highlighted the government’s quick response to ensure that businesses could continue to operate within the new norm to support livelihoods.
According to an index curated by the University of Oxford, Malaysia’s MCO was one of the strictest in the region. The flip side is that while we have successfully controlled the infection rate, our economy, as expected, suffered.
The impact was exposed in our GDP results for the second quarter of 2020, for which our economy registered a contraction of 17.1%.
In March there were many uncertainties and many still prevail today. Fortunately, the decision of the Malaysian government to implement Prihatin, Prihatin SME + and Penjana to cushion the impact on companies and our rakyat has reaped positive results.
The problem statements were crystal clear. But when devising solutions, we knew that rakyat and companies needed real and tangible results, not results. And in particular, when the fight against the pandemic began to look more like “running a marathon than a sprint.”
10 weeks have passed since that article was published. A combined value of RM295bil from the stimulus packages and a “finished and dusted” Dewan Rakyat session later, praise God, there is evidence that many of these measures have contributed to better economic indicators for the country.
These include markedly improved figures for Malaysian exports; unemployment figures; Industrial production index; Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index and many others.
Even the 2Q GDP results, when broken down month by month, from -28.6% in April to -3.2% in June, indicate better times to come, God willing.
A historic moment: the deputies unanimously approved the bill to establish the RM45bil aid fund
In my first months as a minister, my experience during the recent Dewan Rakyat session is definitely one that I will never forget.
After 20 years of being a passionate observer, from a corporate lens, of many passionate and boundless debates at the Dewan Rakyat, at first it felt somewhat surreal to be inside it.
There I was, sitting alongside elected MPs from both the government and the opposition, answering their questions and introducing bills during an unprecedented episode in Malaysian history.
It seemed even more surreal when I experienced the creation of the story: Both sides of the political divide voted “now” for the Covid-19 RM45bil stimulus injection bill in Parliament on August 24. As a designated senator, I do not have the right to vote in the Dewan Rakyat, which made the unanimous support of the bill by those who do so much more humiliating.
One thing is clear: the unanimous support for the bill demonstrated that our MPs can rise above political ideology, cross party lines, and kindly unite to do what is best for the rakyat.
Unfortunately, this historic and momentous moment of unity against our common enemy Covid-19 was somewhat clouded by another issue that I raised during my summary of the Covid-19 bill.
However, in my humble opinion, this did not take away from that historical moment its true glory, based on the unanimous agreement of the deputies to pass the bill.
The real winners of this are our dear Malaysians. For this reason, I extend my thanks to all the deputies, both from the government and from the opposition.
There were many eloquently argued calls to increase the $ 45 billion tax injection. While I do not disagree with this in principle, fiscal discipline and the timing of each injection are equally important.
With a vaccine that has yet to be found and commercially developed, the pandemic now looks less like a marathon and more and more like an Iron Man challenge, requiring strength, endurance and stamina.
Whether it’s the 3.8km swimming, 180km cycling, or the 42km run in a full Iron Man race, everything needs to be well timed to ensure both mind and body are optimized to complete the challenge.
In short, deploying too much energy too early is a sure way to fail any of the three challenges.
Similarly, when fighting Covid-19, the government must ensure that it has sufficient resources to continue helping the rakyat and businesses.
Furthermore, many of the stimulus measures have not yet completed their course.
While one-off cash initiatives are 96% implemented, those in the 3-6 month category, such as salary subsidy, are still at an implementation rate of around 51%.
Whatever happens, if there is a real need for additional stimulus before submitting the 2021 Budget, the government will deliver.
I made a commitment to the deputies to return to the Dewan Rakyat for this.
And I believe that parliamentarians will continue to support us on the path of the nation’s recovery and we will stand together through the long war ahead.
While we and the global community wait for a Covid-19 vaccine, the future remains uncertain.
Malaysia, like many other governments, is currently focusing on managing the results of the things they can control, such as ensuring infection rates remain low to protect lives and continuing to help businesses maintain their livelihoods.
Today Malaysia celebrates its 63rd birthday, a date that will be forever etched in the annals of our history as the moment when rakyat of different origins came together as one people, united, regardless of creed, beliefs and ideologies to achieve a broader agenda. our precious independence.
And that same spirit still thrives within us, as demonstrated by the elected representatives of the people, the leaders and the rakyat, many of whom have contributed to our nation’s recovery.
Thank you for showing that in our nation’s time of need, we can, time and again, overcome our differences and come together as one.
Happy 63rd Merdeka Malaysians!
The writer is the Minister of Finance.
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