KUALA LUMPUR: The government is evaluating the need for an economic stimulus package and is ready to launch the measures to deal with the effects of the 2019 novel coronavirus if necessary, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said today.
He felt it is still early for the government to take the action as it needs to study the extent of the impact of coronavirus.
“What is important is that we must focus and support the efforts and measures taken by the Ministry of Health to keep the people safe and free from the virus,” he told a press conference here.
Lim said in fact, prior to the coronavirus outbreak, the government had already planned measures to address the US-China trade war by introducing an economic stimulus package.
The government may bring forward the package due to the virus outbreak if necessary, he added.
Asked if the government plans to revise the country’s fiscal policy as what had been decided by Thailand following the coronavirus outbreak, Lim said Malaysia needs to “wait and see.”
“Thailand attracts about 11 million tourists from China, far more than Malaysia, which receives about two to three million China tourists. So, the impact on their economy will be higher compared to ours,” he added.
According to a report, Thailand’s Fiscal Policy Office (FPO) has downgraded Thailand’s economic growth outlook to 2.8% this year and 2.5% last year after taking into account the impact of the deadly virus epidemic and the further delay in the annual budget bill for fiscal 2020.
Meanwhile, World Bank Group vice-president for East Asia and Pacific Region Dr Victoria Kwakwa, who joined the press conference, said as a global development institution, the World Bank is closely monitoring and working closely with various parties, including the United Nations, to track its impact, as well as offer technical and analysis support to China and other countries in the region.
“We are also sharing information of the global experiences in the past such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and is beginning to look into the economic impact of coronavirus,” she added.
Earlier, Lim said the government has reached an agreement with the World Bank Group to extend the work of its global hub in Kuala Lumpur for an additional five-year period from 2021.
He said the hub, which employs 50 people, half of whom are Malaysians, will assist in Malaysia’s transformation into the digital economy while helping to sharpen the focus on sustaining the development of the conventional and Islamic financial systems as well as retain good governance.
Kwakwa said as part of the extension agreement, it will rename its office as ‘Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Finance Hub’ in July 2020.
“We will also continue to focus on supporting Malaysia’s inclusive growth ambition towards greater levels of shared prosperity and high-income nation status,” she added.
Another focus area will be promoting Malaysia’s global leadership role in sustainable finance.
Malaysia, which became a member of the World Bank in 1958, first signed agreements with the institution to establish a knowledge and research hub on Jan 27, 2015. – Jan 30, 2020, Bernama
