Lim said Malaysia was among the earliest countries to be coming up with a stimulus package. “There are parties who say we are too early (to announce the package) because it (the effects of Covid-19) is not clear yet.”
“If we see other countries, they are announcing their stimulus packages much later than Malaysia.
”Don’t just base (assumptions) on feelings, it must be based on facts. If we base on facts, Malaysia is among the earliest to announce an economic stimulus package,” he told a press conference after officiating the launch of a collaborative agreement between the SME bank, Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), and Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN).
He also said the government might or might not review Malaysia’s GDP forecast for 2020 as a result of the outbreak.
“I did not say we will and I did not say we won’t. Wait for the announcement by the prime minister,” he added.
Recently, Lim had said that Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad would present the economic stimulus package on Feb 27.
He said assistance would be given to the affected sectors to allow the economy to emerge as whole as possible and benefit from the expected economic rebound post-Covid-19.
Today, the finance minister said the package would also help maintain investor and public confidence in the Malaysian economy.
Lim maintained that presently, there was no fear of Malaysia going through a recession as a result of the outbreak.
Meanwhile, on Malaysia’s GDP growth dropping to 3.6% in Q4 last year, he said he would rather look towards the future.
Previously, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) said the country’s economic growth was affected by supply disruptions in the commodities sector.
In response, Lim said, the finance ministry was presently focused on designing the economic stimulus package.
He added that the government could not fully reimburse losses suffered by the affected sectors.
However, the government aims to help the affected companies mitigate the challenges and prepare for the economic rebound after the outbreak.
He called on companies to focus on training existing staff and investing in the upgrade of facilities to fully reap the benefits of the post-Covid-19 economic rebound.