Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz said that Malaysia’s economic activities and services are showing signs of recovery, based on data from the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM). These include statistics such as the number of employees returning to work and the wholesale and retail trade for May 2020.

According to Tengku Zafrul in the 14^th LAKSANA report, DOSM has recorded an increase in the number of employees that have returned to work since May. The department’s data indicated that as of 2 June 2020, approximately 83.5% of employees (12.7 million) are already back at work, compared to the 67.2% (10.2 million) recorded on 17 May 2020.

“We’ve already expected to see an increase in the unemployment rate (5.3% for May 2020 compared to 5.0% in April 2020), but what is more important is whether the steps taken to reopen the economy and to retain employees have had a positive impact on the rate of employees who return to work,” said Tengku Zafrul.

Additionally, the finance minister noted that the wholesale and retail trade in May has increased by 26.3% (RM17.5 billion) since the previous month, bringing it to RM84.4 billion. He said that this, too, confirms the country’s economic recovery.

However, Tengku Zafrul also cautioned that Malaysia still needs to prepare for the possibility that the situation could worsen before it improves. “This is because, as an open economy, the country’s recovery is also partly dependent on how well the global economy recovers. Within our shores, however, we can have more control over certain outcomes. One effort we can undertake is to seek early assistance on repaying our financial obligations if we feel that we may need more time to set our finances on a stronger footing,” he said.

Tengku Zafrul further reminded the public that individuals can seek aid from financial institutions or the Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency (AKPK). Meanwhile, SMEs and bigger companies can get help from the Small Debt Resolution Scheme (SDRS) and the Corporate Debt Restructuring Committee (CDRC), respectively.

You can read the 14^th LAKSANA report in full here.

(Source: Malay Mail)

• TAGS:
• Covid-19 Economy
• Economic Recovery
• Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz