In a statement issued by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, DAP’s Lim Guan Eng and Amanah’s Mohamad Sabu, the coalition said that throughout last year, concerns over the country’s political, economical, health and social climates had been on the rise.
“Health crisis dipped further. In terms of per capita, Malaysian recorded the worst among Asean countries,” it said after Malaysia recorded 283,569 positive cases and 1,056 deaths as of yesterday.
It further said the gross domestic product contracted by 5.6%, which was worse than the predicted 4.5% in the 2021 budget.
“Unemployment went up to 4.8% in December even though there were economic activities at the end of the year. The impact of the economy is being felt by all, especially the poor,” it said.
In January, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced a new economic assistance package worth RM15 billion to mitigate the impact of Covid-19. In a televised address, Muhyiddin said the package dubbed Permai, or the Malaysian economic and rakyat protection assistance package, strengthens the current initiatives in place to help Malaysians cope with the economic impact of Covid-19.
Pakatan Harapan said today the government could only reform the economy if it manages the Covid-19 pandemic. One of the ways is to increase expenditure on Covid-19 tests, treatment and contract tracing. “We are still testing 50,000 to 70,000 a day, and with about 6% rate of positive cases, it would need to increase the test by five times to curb the current infections,” it added.
To increase the testing by up to five times for about three months, it would cost RM2 billion, which is still less than the economic stimulus packages announced, it added. During the movement control order, it said workplace clusters went up drastically, which could leave the economy further crippled.
“The government needs to subsidise part of the cost especially for companies that hire foreign workers and live in hostels,” it said.
The statement also urged Muhyiddin to give out RM1,000 to those unemployed. In December, Muhyiddin had said the government, would increase the Welfare Department’s monthly assistance to the disabled from between RM200 and RM300 to RM1,000 as soon as possible.
It added the tourism industry has lost RM100 billion in 2020 and was still struggling to survive due to the pandemic with many staff losing jobs and hotels closing. “Other sectors are also affected. Many companies have run out of money after one year of struggling under MCOs.”
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