Zafrul proposes raising Covid-19 fund ceiling, statutory debt limit for people and businesses
The government's proposal to raise the ceiling cap for the Covid-19 fund and the statutory debt limit is aimed at supporting the people and businesses during the reopening of the economy.
Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said the proposal will be implemented immediately after being approved by the Parliament.
"With the Parliament's approval, we will...
The government's proposal to raise the ceiling cap for the Covid-19 fund and the statutory debt limit is aimed at supporting the people and businesses during the reopening of the economy.
Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said the proposal will be implemented immediately after being approved by Parliament.
"With Parliament's approval, we will raise the (ceiling limit) of the Covid-19 fund from RM65 billion to RM110 billion, and the statutory national debt limit will be raised from 60 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to 65 pe cent of the GDP," he said on RTM’s Selamat Pagi Malaysia programme today.
Zafrul said the government will continue to help the traders, especially the micro small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and SMEs that have been adversely affected by the suspension of economic activities due to the pandemic, especially those in the retail and tourism sectors.
“God willing, we expect that by the end of this year, depending on the endemic situation, the people can go out, and businesses can resume their operations as usual but in accordance to the new norms," he added.
Strategies outlined in the dynamic National Recovery Plan (NRP), which focuses on meeting economic and social needs, Zafrul said, would help to guide Malaysia out of the Covid-19 crisis both systematically and safely.
The minister advised traders and the people to comply with the standard operating procedures when the economy reopens because there are still many Covid-19 cases in some sectors.
Pre-budget statement
Zafrul highlighted that the Finance Ministry had published a Budget 2022 pre-budget statement - the first in the nation’s history, providing a preliminary overview of the direction, approach and expected benefits of Budget 2022.
“The ministry has always been open, giving all citizens the opportunity to engage with it, and for the first time ever, the ministry had issued a public consultation paper to pay closer attention to the opinions of the external experts,” he added.
- Bernama
