PUTRAJAYA: Job losses so far this year are up nearly 30% compared to the same period last year, with manufacturing and the wholesale and retail trade among the hardest hit, says Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir.
The Economy Minister said 68,177 workers lost their jobs between January and Sept 16, or 15,196 more than a year earlier.
The Social Security Organisation (PERKESO) placed 143,653 workers in jobs between January and Sept 11 through its Employment Insurance System and the MYFutureJobs portal, he added.
He was speaking at a press briefing after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim chaired the 15th meeting this year of the National Economic Action Council (MTEN) on Friday (Sept 18).
Akmal Nasrullah said the Government no longer saw the crisis as a passing shock.
"The global supply crisis has now moved from a phase of managing a temporary shock to one of managing economic risks that are expected to persist," he said.
He said MTEN would meet more often when needed, and ministries and agencies would have to speed up carrying out its decisions.
The council, which last met on July 13, confirmed on Friday that action had been taken on 142 decisions.
Akmal Nasrullah said energy prices were climbing again after fresh tensions in West Asia, including Houthi activity near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and disruptions to Saudi Arabian energy infrastructure.
Liquefied natural gas prices neared US$30 per mmBtu by mid-September, up from an August average of US$21.87. Coal, which feeds directly into the cost of generating electricity, hit US$148 a tonne on Sept 10, compared with US$130.67 in August.
He said a Bank Negara assessment presented to the council found that most firms were still getting the raw materials they needed, some from alternative sources, but their operating costs and working capital needs were rising.
"This pressure is more pronounced for small and medium enterprises, especially in terms of liquidity and their reliance on short-term financing to keep operations going," he said.
The Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) also presented the outcome of a multi-agency workshop, which identified 52 intervention measures for the Government to consider.
Among the main proposals is to position Malaysia as a "World+1" destination, a neutral and stable place to invest and trade for industries pursuing de-risking strategies.
The workshop also proposed exploring air cargo hubs in Penang, Senai and KLIA Aeropolis for the semiconductor industry, and flagged 36 potential trade markets, 23 of them new.
Akmal Nasrullah said MTEN had agreed that the ministries concerned would assess the proposals for priority and viability.
