KUALA LUMPUR: The government’s direct fiscal injection to stimulate the economy has increased to RM35 billion after the announcement of the RM10 billion Prihatin Package for SMEs (Additional Measures) made by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday.
Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Aziz said the injection would be funded through government funds and domestic borrowings.
“The country’s budget deficit was previously forecasted at about 4.0 per cent following the (RM250 billion) Prihatin Rakyat Economic Stimulus Package (Prihatin).
“With the additional RM10 billion under the Prihatin Package for SMEs (Additional Measures), the total package now amounts to RM260 billion, which will raise the budget deficit by 0.7 percentage point to 4.7 per cent,” he said in an exclusive interview aired on TV3 yesterday.
Overall, the Prihatin package represents 18 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product.
Meanwhile, he said more than two million new submissions had been received since the Bantuan Prihatin Nasional cash assistance was opened for application on April 1. – Bernama
