Thursday 28 Mar 2024
By
main news image

KUALA LUMPUR (July 16): Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak (BN-Pekan) has called on the Perikatan Nasional government to not take the Covid-19 crisis lightly, highlighting the fact that the economic crisis due to the pandemic will be the worst the world has ever seen.

He said this as he urged Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and all banks in the country to reconsider the decision to not extend the moratorium period, amid concerns that businesses are going bankrupt.

"Make no mistakes. The worst is yet to come and we are not out of the woods yet. We cannot take this lightly. This is the worst economic crisis that the world is facing, since the Great Depression in the 1920s," he said during his speech to debate the Royal Address.

If it is not possible to extend the moratorium period, he said a period should be given for borrowers to only service the monthly interest payments and not the principal.

The government should not just cater to the needs of the banks, said Najib, pointing out that the banks have been making billions every year.

"[Giving assistance] will not paralyse the nation's financial system. This is the time for the banks to sacrifice themselves for their customers. The banks will be able to make their billions again once the crisis is over," he said.

Meanwhile, he urged the government to expedite infrastructure projects such as the East Coast Rail Link, Mass Rapid Transit 2, Light Rail Transit 3 and the Pan Borneo Highway and asked for the awarding of packages for these projects to be quickened.

He also said the statutory debt limit should be raised to give the government more fiscal space to address the economic impact of Covid-19.

      Print
      Text Size
      Share