KUCHING: The Sarawak government’s Sarawakku Sayang special aid package is to prevent business failure during this bad economic time and also helping Sarawakians in general.
Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg was very aware of the difficulties face by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), Small and Medium Industries (SMIs), and small traders as well as the people at large during this Covid-19 crisis.
“While the movement control order (MCO) is necessary to stop the continuous spread of the coronavirus, the effect of the order affects the people at large and SMEs, SMIs, including traders,” he said.
He said besides their business being reduced to a standstill but their obligations to banks and other lending institutions, in some cases salary and other overheads, continued.
“In order to soften the impact of the MCO on the economy, the state government has injected a huge amount of money into the economy during this trying time,” he said.
He said the nearly RM1.2billion was introduce liquidity to the financial system and help the economy to move.
“The injection of funds by the state government will give multiple impacts to the state, economic activities, helping the B40, to ensure the SMEs, SMIs and other businesses receiving assistance are able to sustain themselves,” he said, adding that what was left to do now was the distribution of the assistance.
He added for SMEs, SMIs and registered businesses would be much easier for the government to implement the incentives.
“Hopefully the assistance to the B40 is able to use the existing records kept by the government, particularly, the record for the disbursement of BR1M before,” Wan Junaidi said.
