Former finance minister Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah lamented that only RM15 billion of the recently announced RM60 billion stimulus package goes directly to the people.

Moreover, he said the RM15 billion is spread over two years instead of being fully utilised this year.

“What RM60 billion? It is not RM60 billion, it is RM15 billion (going directly to the people) - RM10 billion this year and RM5 billion next year,” the Umno veteran leader told Malaysiakini .

“The allocation for agencies like Khazanah (Nasional) is as much as RM29 billion. The rest are guarantees and tax exemptions, which non-tax paying people are not benefitting from anyway.

“What about the small and medium-sized industries? What about the small man doing businesses that employ nearly - or generate jobs - for over five million people?”

According to Razaleigh, who served as finance minister for eight years, the second stimulus plan was not nearly enough.