Two economists said the federal government would need to borrow to finance a new package, which could lead to higher taxes in future.

However, the likelihood of a new stimulus being provided was low, say Center for Market Education CEO Carmelo Ferlito and Universiti Malaya economist Mohd Nazari Ismail.

“Where can the government find the resources without compromising the long-term financial stability of the country? From my perspective, the issue is not what the government did but what it should have avoided, namely the lockdown,” he said.

He proposed that the government offer loans with business-friendly terms such as longer repayment tenures or lower interest rates, instead of providing more subsidies.

Nazari said: “The only way to finance another stimulus package is with additional borrowings. For the survival of the government in the short term, it is a wise decision. But in the long run, it is not a wise decision because it will add more burden on the rakyat.”

The financial market would always be willing to lend the money for another package, but taxpayers would bear the burden of paying for the expenditures and the interest due on the government’s loans.

Putrajaya might have to bring back the goods and services tax to reassure the financial market, he said.

The call for another stimulus package came from a task force of small-medium enterprises, non-governmental organisations and entrepreneurs in a 13-point memorandum recently.

They called for a stimulus package that prioritised SMEs, self-employed entrepreneurs and retrenched workers.

They also called for the loan moratorium to be reinstated, with the interest waived for all businesses until the end of this year, and for the wage subsidy to be raised from RM600 to a minimum of RM1,200 until Dec 31.