Businesses in Malaysia call for govt to reopen economy

Hundreds of Malaysian business groups have urged the government to reopen the economy as a four-week full lockdown to deal with a surge in Covid-19 infections has shown no signs of meeting government targets to move into a more relaxed second phase.

Industries Unite (IU), which comprises 112 business groups representing more than three million businesses that have been mostly put on hold since June 1, said yesterday that its members have lost confidence in the government's four-phase recovery plan.

The exit plan, as laid out by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin early this month, envisaged most businesses reopening by end-August.

But IU said the current vaccination figures and daily Covid-19 numbers do not inspire confidence that the targets can be met.

Malaysia is in the first phase of its exit plan and has struggled to meet its targets to move into the second phase.

The country, which is 26 days into the 28-day full movement control order, recorded 5,803 new Covid-19 infections yesterday.

This is far from the threshold target of below 4,000 cases to transition to the second phase.

The government has also been unable to fully vaccinate 10 per cent of the population as planned.

Only about 6 per cent have been fully vaccinated so far.

A third marker being used by the government - the "moderate" usage of beds in intensive care units (ICUs) - has also not been met, as hospital ICUs are operating at above 90 per cent capacity.

The third phase was supposed to start in August, with daily Covid-19 cases below 2,000 and 40 per cent of the population fully vaccinated.

"We have very little hope that we are going to reach the target of transitioning to phase three in August. End of the year looks more likely," said IU coalition coordinator David Gurupatham in a press conference.

"But by the end of the year, the (businesses) will be gone, and there will be nothing left."

Datuk David said 80 per cent of businesses represented by the coalition could no longer meet their financial obligations. At least 40 per cent have closed down and another 20 per cent are facing the risk of shuttering, he said.

The businesses represented by IU include small and medium-sized enterprises, retail chains, restaurants, and players in the arts and tourism industries.

"People are struggling to put food on the table. How many months of reserve can businesses be expected to have?" Mr David asked.

The Federation of Malaysia Manufacturers on Friday urged the government to move to the second phase of the exit plan next week and allow more economic sectors to operate.

"There must therefore be more focus to support the private sector to restore resilience and sustainability in tandem with the ongoing immunisation programme efforts, which will ultimately bring us back to some level of business normalcy," it said.

The current lockdown is due to expire tomorrow, but it is widely expected to be extended.

The government announced a fiscal relief package with the lockdown, but the package offers only RM5 billion (S$1.6 billion) in direct fiscal injection and does not have many of the reliefs provided under last year's total lockdown, such as an automatic loan moratorium.

Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said yesterday that a new round of aid is set to be announced by the government.