Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin today announced a 5th economic stimulus package (PERMAI) amounting to RM15 billion to help Malaysians cope with the second impact of COVID-19. As most of the county enters the second week of strict movement curbs, this special announcement it what most of Malaysians are waiting for.
During today’s live address, Muhyiddin said there will be 22 initiatives carried out under the Permai economic stimulus package.
To safeguard the people’s welfare, he said there are various initiatives included under Permai to help those affected by the MCO – especially the vulnerable groups and informal workers who are dependent on daily wages.
Wage Subsidy Program 3.0 is open to all employers operating within states which have been placed under the MCO
One of the initiatives is the government will enhance the Wage Subsidy Program 3.0 Program under the Social Security Organisation (SOCSO). The Wage Subsidy Program 3.0 will be open to all employers operating within states which have been placed under the MCO, irrespective of sector.
For a period of 1 month, eligible employers will receive a wage subsidy of RM600 for each employee who earns less than RM4,000. The wage subsid limit of 200 employees for each employer will be increased to 500 employees. This initiative is estimated to benefit 250,000 companies employing more than 2.6 million workers.
The prime minister further added the government has also agreed to relax the conditions for the Employment Insurance System (EIS) Prihatin programme. This is specifically to help those employees who had suffered loss of employment during the MCO period.
For employees who do not meet the minimum contribution conditions, or whose contracts were not extended after having been renewed for at least three times previously are now eligible to apply for the assistance of 30% of their monthly salary for a period of three months.
Prihatin Special Grant Plus assistance will be expanded to cover 500,000 SMEs
Furthermore, Muhyiddin said the government will expand the Prihatin Speciaal Grant Plus assistance to cover 500,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in states under the MCO with a payment of RM1,000 each, while 300,000 SMEs in other states will receive RM500 each.
To assist the cash flow of micro-enterprises and SMEs, the government will expedite the implementation of micro-credit schemes that had been announced previously.
The implementation of RM1 billion micro-credit facilities include soft loans amounting to RM390 million by Bank Simpanan Nasional, RM350 million by Agrobank and RM295 million by the National Entrepreneurial Group Economic Fund (Tekun).
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