Instead, he said the government would continue to focus on enforcing a more stringent standard operating procedure, should the number of Covid-19 cases remain high.

“Based on the current model, we believe the number of cases will go down,” he said in an interview with CNBC today.

Tengku Zafrul was responding to a question on whether or not the government would shut down certain sectors, if the movement control order was extended, or if the Covid-19 vaccine roll-out was not as smooth as anticipated.

Malaysia recorded 4,094 new Covid-19 cases yesterday, taking the country’s infection tally to 198,208 cases.

He also said the government would maintain the 2021 budget allocations as it fights to stem the spread of Covid-19.

If there is a need for further (cash) injection to help revive the economy for the short term, “this is something the government has to do”, he said.

“But today, we still maintain the budget which was just recently approved by the government,” Bernama quoted him as saying.

Tengku Zafrul was confident that the Covid-19 national vaccination programme, expected to be completed by the first quarter of next year, would further drive Malaysia’s economic recovery.

He said Malaysia was expected to receive the first batch of the Pfizer vaccine by end-February and the roll-out was expected to take place in early March and completed in about 12 months.

He expected 80% of the population, or close to 27 million, to be vaccinated by the first quarter of 2022.

Tengku Zafrul said the recently announced RM15 billion Permai assistance package, aimed at assisting various sectors and the micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, would further boost the economy.

He confirmed that the government would continue to maintain its gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast of 6.5% to 7.5%, and fiscal deficit target of 5.4% of GDP this year.