Najib Questions If 2021 Budget Will Prevent Economic Downturn

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Former prime minister Najib Razak said an economic downturn may result in the loss of a million or more jobs.PETALING JAYA: Former prime minister Najib Razak has questioned if the 2021 budget will be able to prevent an economic downturn and the loss of millions of jobs if Covid-19 continues or worsens next year.
He said the government’s Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat aid, which offers financial aid for the poor, is less than in previous years. The loan moratorium, which had been a lifeline for many, had also not been extended.
“The money in the Employees Provident Fund’s Account 2 under i-Lestari is also about to run out,” he said in a statement, referring to the withdrawal facility intended to ease the financial burden of members and help them meet their basic monthly financial needs during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The maximum amount allowed to be withdrawn under this scheme was RM500 a month to meet basic financial needs of the people.
“To avoid being called a traitor, should we support a budget that will most likely fail to prevent the economic downturn and which will result in the loss of a million or two million jobs?
“That is why I suggested in my 2021 budget debate that the government needs to take bold and extraordinary steps to face the extraordinary challenges at this point,” Najib said in a post on Facebook.
The former finance minister further said the allocation for the Wage Subsidy Programme (PSU) was smaller and questioned if this could protect workers’ jobs and safeguard against an economic downturn expected next year.
Najib said RM15 billion had been allocated since April this year, with each worker, earning less than RM4,000, receiving RM1,200 monthly.
“But the subsidy for 2021 is different from that in 2020. The total allocation has dropped to RM2.4 billion as compared to RM15 billion. It has been extended by only three months as compared to nine months previously,” he said.
Najib added the subsidy was now also limited to only certain industries, such as the tourism sector, adding that the total number of employers who will benefit from the aid was around 70,000 when compared to the previous 330,000.
The number of workers to benefit from this subsidy programme would be 900,000, compared to 2.7 million previously, he added.
Due to that, the Pekan MP said he had laid two conditions  to support Budget 2021 — to allow EPF contributors to withdraw RM10,000 from their Account 1 and to allow the loan moratorium to be extended by another six months. However, he said these had not been fully welcomed by the government yet.
MPs are currently debating on the RM322 billion Budget 2021.
Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin needs the budget to be approved or risks facing fresh polls in a situation when the country is battling an increase in Covid-19 cases. - FMT

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