Shaun Cheah, executive director of the Malaysian International Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MICCI), said the government should have also ensured that the budget is rakyat-centric and sustainable.

“Our stand has always been that dishing out goodies to the rakyat helps but it’s not sustainable in the long run. What is needed is to sustain businesses,” he told FMT.

He further said the business environment should be conducive enough for the SME sector so that it could rejuvenate the economy and in turn it could create jobs.

He said his association does not see any real incentives for businesses especially for SMEs who are the engine of economic recovery.

However, Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) executive director Shamsuddin Bardan said that the government did what they could.

He said despite the economic slowdown the government will extend another 3 months of the wage subsidy scheme and widen it to companies with 500 workers. The scheme was previously provided to companies with 200 workers.

Shamsuddin added the reduction of workers’ EPF contribution from 11% to 9% will leave more cash available to wage earners and would add cash into the local market.

Other measures welcomed by MEF are higher income tax exemption for those who lost employment and upskilling and reskilling of staff.

He also praised the government for setting up child care centres for B40 parents to ensure both parents could continue working, as well as the setting up of an employment council to look into employment issues.