HOME Minister Muhyiddin Yassin will propose that Putrajaya draw up an economic stimulus package for 2020 in case of a slump next year.

The package will help boost business activity and consumption in light of a possible economic slowdown as predicted by market analysts.

“I will propose this to the Finance Ministry and we will discuss this during the cabinet meeting next week,” Muhyiddin told reporters in Tg Piai today.

“Previous governments have done this before when there was a slowdown in the economy where we pump in money to give it a boost.”

“If the economy slows down and we don’t spend anything it will get worse. We used to do this in previous governments where we pump in RM2 billion to Rm3 billion to increase the growth rate by 1% to 2%,” said Muhyiddin.

“This will prevent the economy sliding down further. I will discuss this idea in the cabinet with the prime minister and the finance minister,” said Muhyiddin.

The Pakatan Harapan government has announced an expansionary budget for 2020 to boost consumption and business activities in light of a possible slow-down in economic growth due to a sluggish world economy.

The Malaysian economy is estimated to expand by 4.8% next year compared to 4.7% this year according to the Finance Ministry on the back of resilient domestic demand despite external challenges.

Supported by a stable labour market and low inflation, household spending, which accounts for 58% of GDP will continue to be the engine for growth, the report said. – November 7, 2019.