Malaysia on track to economic recovery: Zafrul
Published on: Thursday, February 25, 2021
By: Bernama
Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia’s economic recovery plan is on the right track with the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme that begins today (Wednesday), said Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz (pic).He said many economic sectors were awaiting border reopening not only in the country but also abroad, including the tourism and retail sectors.
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In presenting the 42nd Implementation and Coordination Unit Between National Agencies (Laksana) report here Wednesday, Tengku Zafrul urged the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and micro SMEs in the tourism sector which were still affected by the pandemic to take advantage of the RM1 billion Penjana Tourism Financing.
As of Feb 12, only 282 applications involving RM57.1 million in financing had been approved under the Penjana Tourism Financing scheme.
Tengku Zafrul said economic recovery would follow with the recovery in public health. He said the World Bank had forecast that Malaysia’s economy would grow between 5.6 and 6.7 per cent for 2021 following the global rollout of the Covid-19 vaccination programme, which was in line with the forecast of a four per cent world economic growth.
The government is targeting to vaccinate almost 27 million people, representing over 80 per cent of the country’s population, by the first quarter of next year to achieve herd immunity.
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Meanwhile, the government has approved 6,731 applications involving an allocation of RM1.259 billion under the National Economic Recovery Plan (Penjana) Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) financing scheme as at Feb 12, 2021, said Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz.
The Penjana SME financing scheme with an allocation of RM2 billion prioritises SMEs which have not received financing from banks previously.
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He said for the Penjana Tourism Sector Financing, the government allocated RM1 billion for SMEs and micro SMEs which are still affected by Covid-19.
“There were 579 applications for this financing and out of this, some 282 applications have been approved with financing totalling RM57.1 million,” he said.
Meanwhile, for the Penjana Micro Credit Financing under Bank Simpanan Nasional, a total of RM363.4 million had been disbursed, benefitting 10,774 micro SMEs including those in the retail and services sectors.
For Bumiputera Relief Financing which was introduced by Perbadanan Usahawan Nasional Bhd with funding of RM200 million, some 572 SMEs had received funding of RM161.7 million as at Feb 12, compared with 548 SMEs which received funding of RM153.0 million in the previous week.
“On the objective of Empowering the People, the first phase of the Wage Subsidy Programme (PSU 1.0), is still ongoing and the government has channelled RM12.763 billion to 322,177 employers and 2.64 million registered workers.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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