KUALA LUMPUR, Jan. 18 (CNA) - Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has announced a new economic assistance package worth RM15 billion (US$3.7 billion) on Monday (Jan 18) to mitigate the impact of COVID-19.
In a televised address, Mr 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.
"A total of 22 initiatives will be implemented under PERMAI, and they are based on three main objectives - firstly to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, secondly to protect the people's welfare and thirdly to support business continuity," said Mr Muhyiddin.
The announcement came as Malaysia struggles to contain its third wave of COVID-19 infections, with four-digit daily increases in cases bringing the national total to more than 155,000.
The healthcare system is at a breaking point, the prime minister had said.
Malaysia's king Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah declared a state of emergency across the country last Tuesday, a day after the prime minister announced that five states, including Penang, Selangor, Melaka, Johor and Sabah, and the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan would come under a two-week movement control order (MCO) again.
The northern state of Kelantan was then placed under MCO restrictions beginning Saturday, bringing the total number of affected states to six.
Sarawak is also enforcing an MCO in the Sibu, Selangau and Kanowit districts following a spike in new infections over the last several days.
A ban on interstate travel is in force across the country until Jan 26 in an effort to curb the spread of the virus.
The latest economic package follows the tabling of an expansionary 2021 national budget in November last year, the country's biggest ever, targeted at ensuring people’s prosperity, business continuity and economic resilience amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr Muhyiddin had said that the budget was a continuation from the four stimulus packages worth RM305 billion (US$73.2 billion) that were announced previously.
The most recent stimulus package was the additional assistance under the RM10 billion PRIHATIN Supplementary Initiative Package, which is in line with the government’s efforts to boost economic recovery.
The KITA PRIHATIN package is an extension of the previous economic stimulus packages, namely PRIHATIN, PRIHATIN SME PLUS and PENJANA worth a total of RM295 billion, or about 20 per cent of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP), with an additional fiscal injection totalling RM45 billion by the government.
