Huazong praises govt for not leaving anyone out

KOTA KINABALU: The Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia (Huazong) has welcomed and commended the Government for announcing the Prihatin Rakyat Economic Stimulus Package totaling RM250 billion to cushion the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Its president Tan Sri T.C Goh described the said stimulus package as people-friendly and pro-business, especially covering the small-andmedium enterprises (SMEs) and those in the middle and low income group.

He recognized that the government introduction of such measures like the ‘Wage Subsidy Program’, Exclusion of levy payments to Human Resource Development Fund for all sectors for six months beginning April, and allowing both the employers and employees to defer and to restructure the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) contributions, is well done and a great relief for the business sectors. He said the huge increase in the latest economic stimulus package, which is 12 times more than the previous RM20 billion package that was unveiled last month, demonstrated the government’s aspiration to provide a more comprehensive-and-effective measure to assist the people.

“This is well reflected in the government allocation of RM128 billion to assist various groups, especially those in the middle-andlow-income group, and at the same time allocating RM100 billion to provide financial aids and incentives to the small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs),” he said in a response issued on Saturday.

Goh also commended the government for the special allocation of RM5.9 billion Wage Subsidy Program to help employers retain their employees and prevent the loss of jobs and livelihoods. Under this scheme, RM600 will be channeled to each employee with a salary of less than RM4,000 per month for a period of three months, and whose employers experienced a 50 per cent drop in income since Jan 1. The government’s approach in addressing the cash-flow issue affecting the businesses is also commendable, he added.

Besides this, the government also provide three-month moratorium of income tax payment for 750,000 SMEs starting April 1, and additional special relief facilities worth RM3 billion for SMEs, with interest rates reduced from 3.75% to 3.5%., besides relaxing requirement for microcredit scheme.

“This shows that the government is concerned with and taking care of various problems facing the business sectors,” he said.

He further commended the government for providing cash aids to families and individuals across the board, which include the civil servants, the self-employed like hawkers, cab drivers, students at higher education institutions, besides increasing the special allowances to doctors, nurses and health workers on the front line until the crisis is resolved.

He also welcomed the move of giving more discount on electricity bill, noting that it was among the measures proposed by Huazong earlier. Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyddin Yassin announced that Putrajaya and Tenaga Nasional Bhd will allocate an additional RM530 million for electricity bill discounts, with usage below 200 kilowatt eligible for 50% discount, 25% for 201 to 300 kilowatt usage and 15% for 301 to 600 kilowatt, and 2% discount for households to continue.

“We hope that the government would continue to monitor and assess the situation, and to come out with other necessary emergency measures to assist the people. In the meantime, let us all give our full support and cooperation to the government in fighting this Covid19 crisis together. Hopefully, it will be over soon and life will be back to normal,” he concluded.