Pemulih aid package timely

Dr Yeah Kim Leng, professor of economics at Sunway University, said the new aid package is broad-based and covers more sectors for aid support. “The aid is timely given that the lockdown is extended with an uncertain transition to the next stage of the NRP, ” he said.

PETALING JAYA: The Pakej Perlindungan Rakyat dan Pemulihan Ekonomi (Pemulih) aid package worth RM150bil is seen as timely by economists and fund managers in view of the country still in phase one of the National Recovery Plan (NRP).

Among the highlights of the Pemulih aid package are the continuation of the Wage Subsidy Scheme for the fourth time with an allocation of RM3.8bil, which is expected to benefit more than 2.5 million workers, as well as the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) introducing a new withdrawal facility called i-Citra, where a total of 12.6 million EPF members can make withdrawals of up to RM5, 000 with a fixed payment rate of RM1, 000 per month for five months.