COVID-19 Stimulus Package

The Prime Minister just announced a couple of measures to help keep the Malaysian economy afloat moments ago.

Until he mentioned that he would be announcing further measures on 30 March, I was thinking, that's not nearly enough to achieve whatever it is he thinks he wants to achieve.

I hope some of the few below will be considered for his 30 March plan:

1. More reductions for utility bills

The current 2% discount on electricity for non-commercial consumers is errr…

Further reductions would make sense since everyone is (or should be) stuck at home.

2. Deferments of housing/car loans for three months

Would be a better option than allowing people to withdraw from EPF, IMO. Plus, civil servants don’t have EPF.

And in tandem with the above...

3. Freeze house rentals for three months

Which again makes sense because an April 2019 iMoney survey found that the median amount being paid for renting a room in the Klang Valley was RM680.

And lastly…

4. BR1M for people on the lower end of the income scale (RM300 perhaps?)

Because, hey, if you can afford to have a Cabinet of 70 chaps, you surely can find some spare change for the people who actually need it. If we stopped the entertainment allowances for ministers/deputies for 3 months, we could pay BR1M for 8,400 people.

There should also be some sort of incentive for businesses to help keep them afloat and prevent them from laying off staff. I am pessimistic that Rishi Sunak's approach will work in Malaysia but I'm sure the brilliant minds in our Government can think of something.

OK I'm off (since technically I'm supposed to be working).