He called for the government to change tact in order to get people back to work and boost the economy.

“To save and pull the economy out of our current economic recession, the government’s financial focus should shift from controlling our debt levels and fiscal deficit, to borrowing more money,” Lim said in a statement today.

The DAP secretary-general said the first measure is the “immediate implementation” of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s proposal to lift the monthly welfare aid from RM200-RM300 to RM1,000.

“This would give many a fiscal safety net and cost the government RM12 billion,” Lim said.

He also urged the government to extend the loan moratorium by another six months after it expires on Sept 30, saying this would cost RM6.4 billion but in the process, help eight million Malaysians.

Finally, Lim called for hiring and work incentives under the Malaysia@Work scheme amounting to RM500 a month for employees and RM300 for employers to encourage the hiring of Malaysian workers.

“By expanding this scheme to cover 600,000 workers and their employers, it will cost the government RM13 billion.”

He added that while the final bill might be high, taking such action was necessary.

“Borrowing RM31.4 billion to help one million unemployed Malaysians may be costly but necessary to save Malaysian jobs, businesses and livelihoods,” Lim said.

Human Resources Minister M Saravanan previously stated that the number of job seekers in the country could rise to one million as early as this month, with 350,000 new graduates set to enter the workforce and 200,000 locals returning from abroad.