Senate approves bill to finance Covid-19 measures

Senate approves bill to finance Covid-19 measures

Finance minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz said a total of RM45 billion was allocated under the stimulus and recovery plan.

Finance minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz tabled the bill in the Dewan Negara. (Bernama pic)
KUALA LUMPUR:
The Dewan Negara has approved a bill to provide for temporary spending and financing of expenditures to deal with the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak.

The Temporary Measures For Government Financing (Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19)) Bill 2020 was tabled by finance minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz and was passed by a majority vote after the third reading.

Earlier, 13 senators took part in debating the Bill at the committee-level after it was passed at the policy-level.

When winding up his debate on the Bill, Tengku Zafrul said that as of Sept 11, a total of RM268.2 million was spent on special Covid-19 allowances for the 832,000 frontliners involved.

A total of RM45 billion was allocated under the stimulus package and economic recovery plan, with wage subsidy programmes, employment retention and recruitment incentives as well as training assistance receiving the largest chunk of RM16.8 billion.

The Senate sitting continues tomorrow.

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