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PETALING JAYA: A political economist has questioned the decision of the state bank Sabah to lend AirAsia RM300 million, saying that the money should be spent to help small and medium-sized businesses in the state.
Sabah UiTM’s Firdausi Suffian said he was surprised to read reports that the budget airline obtained a RM300 million loan from Sabah Development Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of the state government.
Firdausi said that while there is nothing wrong with a bank granting loans to a company, the priority of a state bank should be to help Sabah companies, particularly SMEs, which have been severely affected by Covid- 19.
“In the context of Covid-19, you would think that the focus would be on SMEs rather than on a company that has made huge profits in recent years.”
Last week, SAPP president Yong Teck Lee had urged the state government to stop the loan, as the bank was mandated to provide financing for projects in Sabah and not for “venture companies.”
However, in a filing to the stock exchange on Friday, the airline said the loan had been secured and disbursed and would be used to improve logistics in Sabah, helping create more than 100,000 new jobs.
Firdausi said that SMEs were the backbone of the economy and that Sabah had 55,000 SMEs employing more than 150,000 people.
“SMEs only receive assistance of around RM 90 million in the two stimulus packages from the Sabah government,” he said, noting that the sector contributes about 57% of Sabah’s gross domestic product.
Another economist, Barjoyai Bardai from the Universiti Tun Abdul Razak, said he did not see the Sabah government’s reason for wanting to lend AirAsia so much money that it could be used to support struggling companies in the state.
“It is a different story if they are investing in the company. I think the state government will have to explain the reason for this decision because it will be subject to scrutiny. “
