Heavy burden for moneychangers

Hoping for more customers: A pedestrian passing by the printed foreign currency displayed as moneychangers are lamenting the fact that business has taken a drastic dip during the MCO.

PETALING JAYA: Already facing a sharp decline in business turnover, moneychangers and remittance businesses say they are being weighed down further by high rentals and uncompromising landlords.

Malaysian Association of Money Services Business president Datuk Seri Jajakhan Kader Gani noted there has been a 70% drop in overall business nationwide.

Jajakhan said association members are bound by existing tenancy agreements and are struggling to pay rentals due to the down turn, he said.

“Rental is the toughest for us as we are paying a premium rental rate for our premises at malls and shopping complexes, ” he said.

Jajakhan claimed many landlords were not keen to claim the tax deduction offered by the government for them to reduce rentals.

The tax deduction was announced in April under the stimulus package programme for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) until September.

The Finance Minister announced on Nov 26 the incentive would be extended under Budget 2021.

“Until now most of us only managed to get a one month rental waiver from the landlord even though the income tax deduction incentive has been extended.

“Many of them are not interested and tell us to pay and honour the tenancy agreement. Some are not even willing to let us exit the tenancy agreement since they have asked us to pay the three years’ rent in full.

“So we have no choice but to find ways to substantiate all our expenses, ” he said in an interview yesterday.

Considering the location, premises size, the nature and scope of the business, Jajakhan said the association’s 360-odd members with some 3,000 branches and agents nationwide are paying between RM20,000 and RM80,000 monthly in rent per premises.

Jajakhan said the high rental was a heavy burden to business owners who have been severely impacted by the movement control order and travel restrictions with the national borders closed to tourists.

“We are not asking for total rent waiver but we need somebody to facilitate reductions and a platform for us to communicate, ” he said.

Of the three main services, Jajakhan said moneychangers and currency wholesalers are the most affected while remittance businesses saw about 30% drop in business.

He also noted the government’s initiatives such as the Penjana Tourism Financing, wage subsidy and digitalisation grant has been helpful in keeping affected members afloat.

“Most of us are going for financing to remain in the business while some have decided to either permanently or temporarily shut down.

“The pandemic affects all and some industries are more severely hit than the others, particularly the tourism industry and correlated business like us.

“Next year will be very challenging since the travel industry is not going to have a rebound and some turnaround is expected only in 2022.

“So we hope the government can help. We need some parties to represent us in terms of negotiation with landlords or give us a one-off rental rebate or grant to survive, ” he said.