2020 stimulus: Dr M assures Malaysians jobless from Covid-19 of support from RM1.1b fund

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 27 — Malaysians whose jobs were impacted by the global outbreak of the novel coronavirus will be given support via the Employment Insurance System (EIS).

Interim Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced a stimulus package today in the wake of the Covid-19 infection that has also shaken Malaysia’s economy.

He said the government will also provide funding for training of affected workers.

“The most immediate economic impact of Covid-19 has been the sharp decline in tourist arrivals throughout the region. Hotels, airlines, travel companies and more broadly the tourism-dependent retail industry have been badly affected,” he said in a statement.

“The Malaysian workers retrenched can rely on the Employment Insurance System (EIS) with a current fund of RM1.1 billion.

“Furthermore, EIS will increase the claimable training cost from RM4,000 to RM6,000 for the affected sectors. A daily training allowance of RM30 per day will also be provided to trainees under EIS,” he added.

To encourage employers to further invest in raising their employees’ productivity during the economic slowdown, the government will give double deduction for companies on money spent on approved tourism-related training.

“The government will also provide up to RM100 million on a matching grant basis to HRDF to fund an additional 40,000 employees from the tourism and other affected sectors,” Dr Mahahir said.

He said the government will also provide RM50 million to “subsidise short courses in digital skills and highly skilled courses”, with 100,000 Malaysians expected to benefit from this.

He said hotels and travel-related companies will also be exempted from the Human Resource Development Fund levies from April to September.

“The government acknowledges lower tourist arrivals has negatively impacted those reliant on tourism. The government will give a one-off payment of RM600 each to taxi drivers, tourist bus drivers, tourist guides and registered trishaw drivers,” he also said.

The entire economic stimulus package worth RM20 billion has three strategies, namely to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak, spurring rakyat-centric economic growth, and promoting quality investments.

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