Govt urged to spend big on infrastructure, food output

GEORGE TOWN: Economists are calling for the federal government to inject millions of ringgit into infrastructure and food production following fears that a global recession may emerge due to the implosion of the Covid-19 pandemic on the economy.

Such areas can generate the necessary multiplier effects on the economy and help generate the impetus to gradually recover from the outbreak.

This is according to Charles Santiago, who was an economist with the Coalition Against Water Privatisation and Monitoring Sustainability of Globalisation Malaysia before he joined DAP and he is now a three-term Klang MP.

In an interview, he said food production has been cited as one of the economy’s weak areas and with the weakening of the ringgit, it is good to not be dependent on food imports, instead raising the farming yields.

He also cited a need to upgrade the infrastructure by tarring roads and repairing potholes besides building new connectivity, as such contract jobs can benefit the lowincome group (B40).

“The job of mitigating the economy should start now in conjunction with the present movement control order (MCO) to flatten the Covid-19 spread.”

Santiago said the government should not wait for the fight against the pandemic to be over to initiate measures to regain growth for the economy.

After registering a lower-thanexpected economic growth of 4.3% last year, he expects the next two quarters’ performance to be dismay due to the impact from the virus spread.

But we hope we can rebound by the second half.”

Meanwhile, Dr Muhammed

Abdul Khalid, who was the former economic adviser to then prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed, urged the government to focus on aid to the B40, reducing income tax and finding ways to allocate aid for workers who earn less than RM5,000 per month.

Such groups make up 72% of the country’s labour force.

As for the corporate sector, Muhammed said that there is a need to buffer the burden by helping out the SMEs with relief on loan burdens and operational costs.

He said the government may need to dip into the country’s reserves to provide the necessary relief to stabilise the economy.

“The government should not worry about doubling the fiscal deficits or facing negative growth, as it is now about surviving the virus and ensuring that the economy can be rejuvenated on a fast track basis.”