Coronavirus pandemic updates: Rise of US white supremacy portends new cold war or worse?

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With the novel coronavirus spreading around the globe, a political virus with deeper influence has also begun to show up. In recent years, white nationalism and white supremacy have been on the rise, a perfect reflection of a political virus that is spreading in the US. If Washington cannot appropriately deal with this virus, it will not be able to make the US great again but rather see an irreversible decline and fall of the US empire.

As of Tuesday, the US has reported at least 163,000 cases of COVID-19 and over 3,000 deaths from the virus. These fast rising numbers have failed to sober some US politicians, especially those who are anti-China, who regard the virus as an opportunity to expand their political interests.

The US is in a political mess with different forces striving to gain an upper hand in a game of political competition. The far-right forces represented by former Trump White House strategist Stephen K. Bannon have been on the frontline and haven't missed an opportunity to attract attention with extreme rhetoric.

Bannon has said that the Chinese government is "an existential threat to the Chinese people and to the world, not just the US." This is a typical statement aimed at gaining political support by pitting China and the world against each other. People like Bannon are actually spokespersons for white nationalism and white supremacy, and they label China an enemy to realize their political goals. These people have fanned the flames of extreme nationalism, which will cause the US to suffer first.

US history shows us that the country needs an enemy to push its development. This is pathetic, yet white nationalists still attempt to unite Americans by making up an enemy. The enemy used to be the Soviet Union, and now it's China, even though today's China is nothing like the Soviet Union.

When the term "American Century" was coined in the 1940s, the US was urged to become the world's Good Samaritan and thus a leader across the globe. Hence, in the eyes of some US politicians obsessed with the extreme mind-set of ideological competition, China has been targeted as a thorn in the side of the US.

Such being the case, Bannon and his followers have spared no efforts to smear China. They will continue spreading their political virus in the hope of reaching their ultimate goal of overthrowing China. These people on the far fringe of US political debate view this as the easiest way to make the US great again.

However, they know it's not possible for them to overturn the Chinese government, but they can't let go their paranoia. Therefore, they won't even hesitate to fulfill their self-gratification even if it drags the US into a hostility confrontation or even a war against China. In the era of globalization, the US will definitely harm itself and its people if it launches a cold war with China.

Nonetheless, if this racism-related political virus continues spreading and more people are deceived by extreme speech, the US will see its existing lesions develop into a malignant tumor. If that occurs, it won't only be the vast innocent Americans who will suffer, but also the politicians who care only about their political interests.

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Coronavirus pandemic accelerated as West’s sense of superiority caused failure to act promptly and lies about China

The West is trying to deflect blame, exacerbated by a mind-set which interprets disease outbreaks not as an inevitable aspect of the human condition, but something belonging to exotic, oriental and poorer nations.

US, UK politicians can't twist virus public opinion 

It is absurd to accuse China of a disinformation campaign or attempt to hold China accountable. And this cannot and will not stop US and British societies from digging out the real reason and criticizing those who made them suffer the pandemic.

• Political virus puts US behind the curve of infection control

   

Anti-China chorus can't mask country's contributions to virus fight

The US and some other Western countries have been recently launching continuous public opinion attacks on China from changing perspectives. They accused China of concealing data on the number of COVID-19 infections and deaths, politicized disputes over the quality of certain medical supplies shipped from China to the West, threw mud at China's diplomacy and demanded China be held accountable for the coronavirus outbreak, as if they are in tune with a new anti-China chorus.

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How China can end US rivalry and realise its vision of a shared future for humanity, as the world struggles with the pandemic

The US-China rivalry only feeds the pandemic, when global cooperation is needed. This is where China’s vision of a shared destiny for humanity can be useful, provided it can be elevated above suspicions of a Beijing power grab

I cannot imagine richer nutrients for the novel coronavirus to reproduce and spread, to flourish globally, than the United States and China continuing to descend into unabashed and undisguised rivalry, with escalating accusations each against the other. Nourish the virus with US-China competition. Or starve the virus with US-China cooperation.

Never has such cooperation been needed more urgently – to battle and contain the pandemic and to sustain and bolster the world economy. Containing the global pandemic, like bolstering the global economy, depends on US-China collaboration.

. If climate change is the world’s most intractable chronic problem, then Covid-19 is the world’s most severe acute problem. My two favourite countries have a choice: either work together to fight the pandemic, developing drugs and vaccines to kill and stop Covid-19, or suffer an out-of-control global pandemic and a chain-reaction cratering of the global economy. Truly, nations will fight the virus and collectively win, or fight each other and collectively lose.

Although China has well-earned respect for curbing its outbreak, there is room for critique, correction and improvement. President Xi Jinping stresses drawing lessons from the outbreak to improve the country's systems for major epidemic control, prevention and public health emergency management.

Apropos of the pandemic, Xi’s repeated call to build “a community with a shared future for all humanity” is a grand vision with multiple applications. For seven years, it has driven foreign policy, especially the Belt and Road Initiative , helping to rectify global imbalances.

https://youtu.be/v34MfJJAZA0

While fighting disease or controlling pandemics have always been a “shared future” benefit, it was always tucked within lists of other benefits, such as climate control, preventing terrorism, interdicting drugs and the like. Few ever imagined that a pandemic could become so grave so fast. But as the pandemic has burst into planetary consciousness, it demonstrates viscerally the global criticality of “shared future” thinking.

The challenge for China is to elevate Xi’s vision above what appears to some as competitive positioning or even as a sprint to assert China’s leadership. China’s experience in containing the contagion, which many countries now desperately need, provides just such an opportunity.

By sending “battle-tested” medical teams to countries under siege, China brings to bear experts with contemporary frontline epidemic experience. What is not well appreciated in the tops-of-trees daily recitations of cases and deaths are China’s evolved know-how and the meticulous work of Chinese health care and logistics professionals.

Exporting coronavirus knowledge, China sends medical teams to countries to help fight pandemic https://youtu.be/jTtqB-zVUAw

There is a problem, though. Emotions worldwide are frayed, rubbed raw by the pandemic’s daily-life disruptions, with economic devastation threatening to exceed that of the 2008 global financial crisis. In this toxic psychological environment, when non-stop news, especially in social media, amplifies fantastical, scurrilous, unsubstantiated rumours by insensitive officials or block-brained conspiracy theorists, attitudes harden and antagonisms ossify. Indigenous nationalism flares in vicious circles.

It takes no cleverness to inflame feelings with glib rhetoric or political insults. Rational people must work together, not allow fringe invective to erode the capacity to fight a common enemy.

Containment of the polemic will be more challenging than containment of the coronavirus; the latter likely to burn out before the former. If so, Chinese views of America, and American views of China, are only going to deteriorate further, to the detriment of all. Enlightened leadership should temper, not inflame, indigenous nationalism. We cannot allow mutual exhaustion to be our last hope.

Trump stops calling coronavirus ‘Chinese virus’ and says Asian-Americans not to blame for outbreak https://youtu.be/7DbgSMD847Q

China’s vision of “a community with a shared future for mankind”, exhorting all nations to act for the common good, fits our turbulent times. For this reason, China should resist finding this phrase turned into a cliché or satire, catalysed inadvertently by endless repetition or forced conformity into a single expression or translation.

Why not encourage various expressions, enabling officials and experts to use their own words, thereby enriching the vision, keeping it fresh and timely?

Originally, the English translation was “a community of common destiny for mankind”, which is more literal and rather elegant. But then, I was told, “destiny” was deemed to be too passive or fatalistic, not sufficiently proactive and positive, which led to the less literal “shared future”. “Shared future” is an evocative phase, reflecting Chinese tradition and offering hope for a better tomorrow.

Yet with constant repetition, “a community with a shared future for mankind” can begin to sound, paradoxically, like an exclusive Chinese mantra, and thereby can begin to elicit, in some countries or cultures, negative emotions, instead of conveying positive contributions.


Labels carry messages – and some interpret China’s phrase as seeking to get the whole world to march under its national banner. This misreads China, but by triggering resistance, the static phrase undermines China’s capacity to help bring about in reality such a community of common destiny or shared future.

China’s vision is a universal message shared by many cultures and China might reach out for similar ideas. China’s challenge is to express the vision in language with which other cultures can identify and feel comfortable supporting.

To be clear, read literally and without bias, a “community with a shared future for mankind” is a powerful exhortation that should benefit the world. That is why the phrase should be protected and enriched by also allowing other, diverse English phrases to represent the original Chinese.

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The objective is to enable the global community to take collective ownership of the grand vision. Given the global pandemic, the global community must take collective ownership.

Here are three other possible expressions, the first more literal, the second and third taking more explanatory licence: humanity is a community of common destiny (a shared future); humanity’s common destiny (shared future) is the guiding principle of our times; and, recognise humanity’s common destiny (shared future) to build a global community.

What China seeks is what humanity needs, especially with the pandemic, and it behooves people of goodwill everywhere to work together to transform rhetoric into reality. - South China Morning Post.

By Robert Lawrence Kuhn, a public intellectual and international corporate strategist, won the China Reform Friendship Medal (2018)


Robert Lawrence Kuhn is a public intellectual, international corporate strategist and investment banker, and a China political/economics commentator featured on the BBC, CNN, Bloomberg. For more than 25 years, he has worked with China’s leaders. He has published over 30 books, including How China’s Leaders Think (featuring President Xi Jinping), and The Man Who Changed China: The Life and Legacy of Jiang Zemin. He is the host of Closer to China with R.L.Kuhn on CCTV News.

Coronavirus outbreak Coronavirus outbreak: All stories | US-China relations | US-China trade war | US-China trade war: Opinion | US-China trade war: All stories | Belt and Road Initiative | Belt and Road: Comment | China leadership

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Searching for Covid-19’s origin

Viral diplomatic wars: Trump’s labelling of Covid-19 as a ‘Chinese virus’ earlier this month has infuriated Beijing and ethnic Chinese worldwide.

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American scientists: Wet market in Wuhan is not the origin of COVID-19

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Trump’s ‘China virus’ label spurs researchers to intensify investigations and some probes are pointing in the direction of the US.

PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s labelling of Covid-19 as a “Chinese virus” earlier this month, which infuriated Beijing and ethnic Chinese worldwide, has prompted researchers to intensify investigations into the origin of the novel coronavirus.

The label, seen as racist and xenophobic, has backfired and does not seem to help the US leader score political points amid the accelerating spread of Covid-19 in the US and the election fever.

In the US, Trump has infuriated his own supporters among the rich Chinese-Americans who have made vast contributions to his campaign funds in his bid to seek a second presidential term.

Under pressure, Trump has stopped using the label since last week. The reaction from Beijing towards the questionable label was strong and immediate. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said “China is strongly indignant at and firmly opposes US stigmatisation” and urged the US “to stop making groundless accusations against China”, the Xinhua news agency reported.

The reaction from ethnic Chinese in Malaysia has been that of disgust and disbelief. But it is the innocent Chinese in America who have had to bear the brunt – mentally and physically.

After Trump’s labelling that cast aspersions the virus had originated from China, cases of racist attacks against Chinese in the US emerged, according to media reports.

In one case, a 12-year-old Asian American boy in Los Angeles was badly beaten by his classmates. In another, a Chinese woman was cursed by a total stranger scolding her for “bringing in the virus”.

Trump’s “China virus” label has caused intense anxiety to the Chinese in the US and this could be seen in posts on social media. In one video, Chinese-Americans are advised to start arming themselves against possible racist attacks.

Arcadia Firearm & Safety in San Gabriel Valley, an area with a high concentration of Chinese immigrants, reportedly saw gun sales rising 10 times in recent weeks.

While the lay people of Chinese ethnicity seem helpless, Beijing appears to have geared up its propaganda machinery to prove that the Covid-19 virus did not originate from China.

Global Times believes this whole anti-China exercise is a public opinion war waged by Trump to “distract attention of the American people away from his failings to deal with the spread of the highly contagious coronavirus in the US”. And China has been made a convenient scapegoat. The official mouthpiece of the Chinese government, in an editorial early last week, reminded the Trump administration to “respect science” before making any conclusion on the origin of the Covid-19 virus.

Although Wuhan was the first place in the world to suffer the Covid-19 epidemic in January, the World Health Organization (WHO) has maintained that the origin of the virus has yet to be identified.

Interestingly, China’s stance has been given unexpected support from scientists in the Trump administration.

The disease expert leading the Trump administration’s response to coronavirus has distanced himself from the “China virus” label.

Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, in an interview with the prestigious Science magazine last Sunday, said he disagreed with the substance of Trump’s message as it could lead to “some misunderstanding about what the facts are about a given subject”.

The expert declared he has not named Covid-19 as “China virus” or “Chinese virus”, and “will never” call it “China virus”.

Perhaps, the most powerful contradiction to Trump’s “China virus” label has come from Dr Robert Redfield – the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US. When questioned at a House hearing, Redfield agreed that it was “absolutely wrong” for Trump to label the 2019 novel coronavirus as the “China virus”.

In addition, he reportedly admitted to US Congress that some Americans who seemingly died from influenza last year were subsequently tested positive for Covid-19. A total of 200,000 were reported to have died from this influenza outbreak that started in September 2019.

Then there were reports that alleged that five sick US army officers might have been responsible for the spread of the virus to China during the 2019 Military World Games held in Wuhan during Oct 18-27 last year.

The five were hospitalised in Wuhan for an “unknown sickness”, and very soon after they were ferried back to the US by a plane specially sent from Washington.

Based on these reports and Redfield’s admission to US Congress, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian suggested on March 12 that the US army might have brought the Covid-19 disease to Wuhan.

“When did patient zero begin in US? How many people are infected? What are the names of the hospitals? It might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent! Make public your data! US owe us an explanation!” Zhao had tweeted aggressively.

Chinese netizens, now naming Covid-19 as the “Trump virus” in retaliation to the “China virus” label, are challenging Washington to allow WHO officers to conduct independent investigations, if there is nothing to hide.

More recently, the findings of an American investigative journalist and his friends have become juicy materials against the US.

According to Global Times, George Webb from Washington DC, in his videos, claimed that Maatje Benassi, an armed diplomatic driver and cyclist who was in Wuhan for the 2019 Military World Games, could be patient zero of Covid-19 in Wuhan.

She and other US army officers had allegedly visited Wuhan’s famous wildlife market and other sites. But the most intriguing part of Webb’s findings is that within the US army delegation, there was another female officer who had worked in Fort Detrick.

According to Wikipedia, Fort Detrick, located in Maryland, was the centre of the US biological weapons programme from 1943 to 1969. From 1969, Fort Detrick has continued defensive research into deadly pathogens, including the Ebola virus and the highly toxic poison ricin. It has been involved in testing possible vaccines for the deadly virus Ebola.

According to a news report on Aug 6 last year by Britain’s online news portal The Independent, the lab research at Fort Detrick was ordered by the CDC to shut down in July 2019 due to “failures in handling the dangerous pathogens inside” and “fears of escape”.

As the outbreak of influenza in the US in September came soon after the closure of Fort Detrick, this coincidence in time has prompted Chinese netizens to urge the US to release the health and infection information of the US military delegation that had come to Wuhan in October.

Still, despite all these findings that seem to point towards the US as the most probable birth place of Covid-19, more credible and confirmatory conclusions can only be drawn from the findings of scientists from WHO and other reliable bodies.

By HO WAH FOON


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The Whole Truth

https://youtu.be/ZbzFRkN2-9c


 
 https://www.globalresearch.ca/us-cdc-director-admitted-virus-deaths-miscategorized-flu/5706233

The US has been lying all along. 

Robert Redfield, CDC director, testifying to Congress, today admitted that virus deaths have been miss categorised as the flu.
He also stated that the standard practice has been to first test people for the flu and, if the test is positive, they stop there. They don’t test for the coronavirus.
So Japan and Taiwan were correct. Many of the US deaths attributed to the flu were actually from the coronavirus.
One Senator asked Redfield if post-mortems were performed to learn the cause of death, and he stated that such were done, and they revealed mis-diagnoses.

Finally, US Center for Disease Control (CDC) Director has said that the "Flu" that started in early 2019 and killed many in US were actually wrongly diagnosed. The patients were not tested and misclassified as Flu. Now, as test become available, they have been reclassified.  As the virus infection occurred much earlier in US before the outbreak in Wuhan, Covid-19 cannot be said to start from China. US is the country of origin for the virus.TRUMP and POMPEO were wrong to smear China and blame China for starting the pandemic: https://www.globalresearch.ca/us-cdc-director-admitted-virus-deaths-miscategorized-flu/5706233

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Stimulus packages avert 1930s-style depression but cannot prevent business closures, save jobs as supply-demand dynamics collapse

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 Malaysia's RM250bil Funding the fight against Covid-19; Penang unveils RM75mil economic stimulus package 

WHEN the conoravirus (Covid-19) first hit the news sometime in December last year, nobody would have thought that it would lead to a global crisis. Two weeks ago, many were staring at a 1930s kind of depression as the world was hit by the perfect storm.

Global trade and supply chain were only getting to terms with the end of the prolonged US-China trade war, when it was hit by a combination of the Covid-19 pandemic and collapse in crude oil prices.

The perfect storm for capital markets that comes once in a decade started to unravel.

The 2008 financial crisis broke down the US financial system. The banks in Malaysia were well prepared for the crisis after having overcome similar problems in 1998. It was different in other parts of the world, especially the United States and Europe. The Federal Reserve and the European Union printed money and other measures to save the banking system.

This perfect storm of 2020 has dismantled the fundamental pillars of global economy – the forces of supply and demand. The consequences are being felt at businesses – whether small or big.

Demand has collapsed overnight across the economy. From tourism to travel, manufacturing to logistics and food and beverage businesses were all forced to shut down to combat Covid-19.

Supply chains continue to be disrupted. Logistic companies are operating at a quarter of their capacity. Factories are shut down because of inadequate components or raw materials. The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) contends that cargo is not moving out of ports as fast as it wished to.

Governments had no choice but to announce stimulus measures, which would help alleviate the hardship suffered by workers and companies affected by the strict measures undertaken by the government to contain the virus.

So far, the centrepiece of Malaysia’s stimulus package is to suspend mortgage and hire-purchase payments on houses and vehicles for six months. Those with credit card repayments can convert their outstanding balances to term loan.

Another firepower that the government has unleashed is handing some RM10bil into the hands of the people. The money will come in direct handouts to people in the B40 and M40 groups, civil servants and individuals.

Like many other stimulus packages, the government has also allocated RM5.9bil to subsidise the wage bill of 3.3 million workers earning less than RM4,000 per month. The subsidy of RM600 will go on for three months provided the company does not retrench the workers or cut their salaries.

Some RM54bil are available for businesses affected by the restrictions on operations imposed to contain the Covid-19 pandemic. Among the beneficiaries are those in the services sector from restaurants to logistics companies and some small and medium enterprises in the manufacturing sector. The companies now are able to tap on government guaranteed loans under procedures that are supervised by Danajamin.

The benefits, especially the six-month suspension of mortgage and hire-purchase loans would easily increase by more than 50% of the disposable incomes of some 80% of families.

The additional measures announced yesterday would capture the informal workforce who are out of the financial system. Those without a car or housing loan would get something from the government to help tide over the tough period.

The measures are a relieve to stop the economy from going into a tailspin. It is to inject confidence and ensure people keep spending so that we do not end up in a 1930s kind of depression. It is needed to ensure the group of people who have been paying loans are comforted that they have money to put food on the table.

Anybody still debating on the benefits of the moratorium on loans, should know that cash money in hand today is more valuable than having the same amount a year from now.

Interest rates for mortgages and hire purchase are already low and will be low for the next few years. It will not make a difference if loans are to be extended by another six months.

So if anybody wants to give you money at low interest rates, just take it and settle the more expensive loans such as personal financing and credit card bills, unless you have so much money that you don’t need the extra cash flow at the moment.

However, the synchronised stimulus packages around the world would not resuscitate the collapse in the supply-demand forces of the economy. It would neither stimulate demand nor help prompt supply over the longer term.

The stimulus package has given Malaysia a six-month grace period to adjust to the reality of the new economic world. It may take up to a year before things get back to normal. Until then, businesses will continue to suffer and unemployment will go up. Certainly, companies are not going to hire for some time, even in services such as restaurants and retail outlets.

People are not going to frequent restaurants and splurge on non-essential items until they are sure that their jobs and income levels are secure. Spending patterns will change as nobody knows how long it would take for normalcy to emerge.

In the meantime, companies will not know how many staff to retain. A logistics company operating in the KL International Airport is only running four out of the 70 lorries. The company’s fleet of courier vans servicing international clients is still ongoing but the number of trips are reducing.

The owner has told employees that they would get their full salary for the month of March and half salary in April if the Movement Control Order continues beyond mid-April as cash flows are reduced.

The magnitude of the problem is bigger in larger companies. Take for instance AIRASIA Group that employs 29,000 people. Based on the 2018 annual report, its staff cost is RM1.7bil and leasing charges are a further RM1.2bil. It has cash of RM3.2bil. Generally, its burn rate is easily RM250mil a month.

AirAsia has suspended operations in Malaysia until April 21. Assuming operations start after April 21, it is not going to be normal as many countries are in lockdown mode. People are not going to travel unless necessary. The question is how long can AirAsia keep paying staff full salaries?

The common theme in the stimulus packages of the countries is to put money in the hands of the people through various measures, which Malaysia has done.

The United States wants to send out cheques to households while the UK will bear 80% of wages up to a sum of £2,500 per month.

Even Italy, which is the country that is hardest hit by Covid-19 in Europe, came up with a US$28bil package that includes suspension of any firing procedures. The government has said that nobody must lose their jobs because of the virus.

It is easy for the government to say that nobody should lose their jobs because of Covid-19 pandemic. It is hard for the private sector to keep paying staff salaries and prevent closures if the supply-demand dynamics is not mended.

The supply-demand forces in the economy will only come back when the Covid-19 threat abates. Make no mistake about the reality.

The views expressed are the writer’s own.

By M. Shanmugam



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LET'S GET MOVING

Calling it a stimulus package that cares for the rakyat, the Prime Minister unveils a mammoth RM250bil economic did initiative that targets the B40 and M40 groups. Although the pagekage seeks to provide much-needed funds for all, same industries, such as

No one left behind, says PM

PUTRAJAYA: The RM250bil economic “rakyat-caring” stimulus package – that aims to see no one left behind – is put in place to protect the people, support businesses and strengthen the economy, said Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

The Prime Minister said the package, known as Prihatin will provide immediate assistance to ease the burden of the people.

“Whether you are a fisherman in Kukup, or a smallholder in Jeli, a chalet operator in Cherating, trishaw pedaller in Melaka, a pasar malam trader in Kuala Lumpur or tamu trader in Kundasang.

“All of you will enjoy the benefits of the economic stimulus package that reflects the government’s care for the people.

“As I have mentioned before, no one is left behind,” he said in a televised address to announce the stimulus package.

The package came just days after the government announced several initiatives to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic.

It also comes after the move to extend the movement control order (MCO) period to April 14.

Among others, the latest economic stimulus package will see police, armed forces, immigration, customs, civil defence and Rela personnel being given a monthly allowance of RM200 starting April 1.

For students in institutes of higher learning, a one-off payment of RM200 will be paid to them in May.

For small and medium enterprises, an additional fund of RM4.5bil for five initiatives will be given.

Company owners facing cashflow problems can opt to defer, restructure or reschedule employers contribution to the Employees Provident Fund.

Using the example of Cik Kiah a goreng pisang seller as an analogy, the Prime Minister said her entire family would benefit to the tune of RM7,864.

He said for example, Cik Kiah’s husband is a retired civil servant and is a Grab driver while her child is a PTPTN loan borrower and the household income is RM4,000 a month.

“Cik Kiah’s family will get the national caring aid of RM1,600, remaining payment of BSH which is RM600, aid for pensioners which is RM500 and e-hailing assistance of RM500.

“If Cik Kiah’s husband serves with Rela, he will get RM200 a month until the Covid-19 pandemic is over,” he said.

Muhyiddin pointed out the cash aid to be received by Cik Kiah’s family is at least RM3,400.

The Prime Minister said those renting PPR houses – like Cik Kiah – will get a saving of RM744 as rentals will be exempted for six months.

“She will also be making savings of RM1,800 as car installments have been deferred for six months and savings of RM120 from electricity bills while Cik Kiah’s child has RM1,200 extra due to six months deferment of the PTPTN loan,” he pointed out.

Muhyiddin explained that if Cik Kiah had taken a micro credit loan for her goreng pisang business, she would be saving RM600.

“Makcik Kiah can now smile after listening to the calculations I made,” he said.

The Prime Minister has also given his assurance that projects allocated in Budget 2020 including the East Coast Rail Link, MRT2 and the National Fiberisation and Connectivity Plan will go on as planned, in line with the government’s focus to ensure sustainable economic development.

“The Prihatin economic package is a manifestation of the government’s commitment towards the welfare and well-being of the rakyat.

“The government will make a direct fiscal injection of RM25bil to lessen the burden of the people and businesses that are going through economic challenges,” he said.

The Prime Minister said the government will ensure that its fiscal current account will have a surplus and will not resort to borrowing to finance operating expenditures.

“Almost all of the measures are one-off so that it will not burden the government’s finances in the medium term

“This is important to ensure the country’s fiscal standing and national debts are sustainable,” he said.

Muhyiddin said aside from the two-month pay cut by him, ministers and deputy ministers, ministries have been directed to review their budgets to see where savings can be made so that the money can be used to put in place medium-term measures to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic.

By MAZWIN NIK ANIS

Funding the fight against Covid-19

THE headline figure of RM250bil for the stimulus package was eye-catching but it shows the gravity of the situation faced not only by Malaysia, but also the rest of the world.

The amount of money was staggering, like throughout the world, and needed to ride through the unprecedented circumstances that Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin calls “a war with invisible forces”.

What is visible though is the damage the Covid-19 pandemic is causing. Our streets are empty, people are afraid of sickness and their futures, and that is bringing about huge economic hurt to the country.

The immediate solution was this package, a large sum that aims to soothe the problems faced by individuals, households and companies.

The key thrust of the plan would see RM126bil go towards protecting the people, RM101bil towards supporting business and RM3bil towards boosting the economy. The common thread in the plan is improving cashflow and job preservation.

The B40 and M40 got much of the same in terms of support packages. There were differences such as rental waiver for the B40 who live in federal and state public housing.

The M40 were allowed to make withdrawals from their Private Retirement Scheme to help with their cash needs.

Most of the other measures were common between both groups such as the loan moratorium and also Employees Provident Fund (EPF) withdrawals.

Those measures targeted the most vulnerable segments of society and there is the structure of the plan.

But it also showed that the Federal Government was not stingy, but realistic, in its spending.

The government will have to borrow money through the issuance of debt papers and that will see the fiscal deficit rise beyond 3.2% of GDP this year to between 4%-6.5% of GDP.

The overall cost will see ministries also cut their budgets to generate savings to help fund the fight against Covid-19.

The size of the deficit will depend on what the price of crude oil is. The government realises that it will not average US$62 a barrel forecast in Budget 2020, but it is also hoping for a higher average price for 2020 than what it is today.

The higher price of crude oil will help with the funding cost of helping the economy. The way the government approached this was to share the responsibility between itself and its agencies.

The government will have a direct fiscal injection of RM25bil and the other agencies such as Bank Negara, Danajamin and government-linked companies (GLCs) will share the responsibility of reflating the economy.

For small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and businesses, there were huge sums of money being made available from Bank Negara to RM13.1bil, an increase of RM4bil.

SMEs were given a deferment of income tax for three months, wage subsidies for their workers and flexible employer contributions to EPF – all with the intention of making sure companies continue to employ people.

The government will also use Danajamin to guarantee loans to larger corporations to the tune of RM50bil.

GLCs such as Tenaga Nasional Bhd and Telekom Malaysia Bhd will also do their part in making electricity and Internet broadband charges cheaper.

This may be the route the airlines will take to get help to keep their plans flying once conditions recover.The plan also shows the limitations of a country like Malaysia in dealing with this trident of crises.

The crash in oil prices, evaporation of demand and supply within the economy and the strain on health services is daunting for Malaysia, which does not have the luxury of printing money like the US or some of the large developed countries or blocs in the world.

It is important to keep companies from folding and to speed up efforts to flatten the number of cases. The next priority is to get the supply chain moving again as the longer this goes on, companies will start to look at slashing costs and exporters will start to lose clients to countries that have recovered and operating at a higher capacity.

As the curve flattens and testing increases dramatically, then factories and businesses can start moving again and that will help with the recovery process.

Malaysians have to weather this phase before looking at stabilising the economy and the recovery phase thereafter. This package is the start towards that - By JAGDEV SINGH SIDHU: Analysis

Penang unveils RM75mil Covid-19 economic stimulus package

GEORGE TOWN: Penang has unveiled a RM75mil Covid-19 economic stimulus package which will benefit 410,000 recipients.

Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow announced the package on Wednesday (March 25) and said that it was aimed at the poor and most vulnerable.

He added that this includes hawkers, small businesses, taxi drivers, trishaw riders, e-hailing drivers, the physically challenged and the B40.

"It is an economic aid for the working class to regain their foothold and continue to be self-sufficient and take care of their families and develop the state through their productivity.

"It is a business continuity package to see that the economic development of the state continues after Mar 31," said Chow in a live Facebook message on Wednesday.

The package also gives a one-off payment of RM500 to Covid-19 patients in the state and RM1,000 to the beneficiaries of those who died from the virus.

By R. SEKARAN

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