The government tried to assuage the fears faced by SMEs by directing a lot of help in credit and financing. This shows very clearly there is very little understanding of being an entrepreneur by the government.
Why would SMEs take loans to pay salaries and rental when they don’t have any income to sustain their businesses?
Do you know how much SMEs contribute to the local economy? If we end up with about 200-500 people dying from the virus after two months, that might be deemed as "successful". The rest of the workforce can look forward to a 20%-30% closure and/or bankruptcy by the SMEs as things stand.
At that rate, we can look forward to a loss of some 800,000 to 1.3m jobs. We have to balance between being cautious, and having "something to come back to after the storm".
Look for "calculated ways" to introduce a 50% work rate for as many businesses as possible, taking into account the need to control the spread of the virus.
MITI must be more accomodating and take on a more empathetic advisory role in dealing with companies requesting to restart working at 50%. Rather than reject if conditions weren't met, do advise them on how to get approved - be it cleanliness issues, sanitizing, testing, etc...
UK and Canada have rolled out a 75% subsidy for the salaries of SMEs' employees. While that would be a bit debilitating for Malaysia to consider, I think we should strive harder. Maybe not 75%, but maybe 35% for a 3 months period? Whatever it is the present situation is insufficient.
Clearance of goods from ports, the SST to be paid should be delayed for 6 months and/or Companies be allowed to retain 10 % of SST payable for the next 12 months.
A moratorium of interest payments for the next 6 months.
All EMI’s to banks and NBFC to be put on hold for 6 months with no levy of interest or delayed payment.
Employer share of the EPF not to be paid by the companies but to be borne by the government for a period of 6 months.
Property tax for FY2020-21 to be reduced to half for all commercial properties.
