THIS is not a good time for the government to sell its assets as the prices will be very low, said Economic Affairs Mustapa Mohamed.

He was responding to a question in a web interview with Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs today whether Putrajaya is planning to sell its assets to fund the stimulus packages.

“My personal view is prices will be very low and it’s not the right time to sell our assets,” Mustapa told think-tank CEO Ali Salman.

“It will be a fire sale if we were to do it now.”

He said the government has property and share assets, and that there are two opinions on this.

“One view is that we should hang on to our assets as the prices are low. The other is we should sell now as we need the money.”

Mustapa, meanwhile, said the government is considering re-opening or allowing more economic activities in green zones.

“Perlis is a green zone now, for instance, as there have been no new cases in the last few days. And some are thinking of relaxing the movement controls in the green localities.

“But this is purely the purview of the Ministry of Health.”

Mustapa said it makes sense for the authorities to consider what other activities can be opend although containing the pandemic is still the top priority.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced yesterday that Malaysia will undergo another two weeks of the movement control order (MCO).

The eight-week MCO, which began on March 18, will now end on May 12. – April 24, 2020.