PUTRAJAYA should not attempt to paint a rosy picture of the economy while keeping silent on the complex challenges facing the country, said J. Solomon

The Malaysian Trades Union Congress secretary-general said the public needed to know the hard facts about their bread and butter just as they needed to see concrete and effective solutions from the government.

He said the public needed to be told the truth – that while Malaysia has made some progress in reviving the economy, there remained many challenges.

Solomon said Malaysians, especially workers, must not be deluded into thinking the economy will be fully recovered by 2021.

“The bold prediction of a 5.5-8% growth for 2021 must not blur the present daily challenges of workers struggling to make ends meet or those rendered unemployed who have no income to support their families,” he said in a statement today.

Yesterday Bank Negara announced that the economy is expected to see negative growth of -3.5 to -5.5% this year before rebounding next year.

The central bank has revised its full-year growth forecast for 2020 from -2% to 0.5%, following months of restricted movement due to Covid-19.

It announced yesterday that the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 17.1% in the second quarter, the lowest since the -11.2% growth registered in the fourth quarter of 1998.

For the first half of 2020, Malaysia registered a contraction of 8.3%, Bank Negara governor Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus said in a virtual press conference yesterday

“The economy is poised for a gradual recovery in the second half and rebound further in 2021,” she said.

Solomon said MTUC accepts Nor Shamsiah’s assertion that the worst was behind Malaysia.

However, he said Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz’s statement showed overoptimism over the economic recovery which belies the real situation.

The minister said that GDP growth was improving with each passing month, from the growth rate of -28.6% in April significantly reduced to -3.2% in June with the easing of the movement control order.

“However, if businesses were coming back strongly over the past months with GDP ‘improving’ by leap folds as claimed by the minister, why is it that the official unemployment rate continues to be very high?” he asked in the statement.

He said the official estimate of 4.9% or 773,200 people out of work in June certainly does not reflect Tengku Zafrul’s claim yesterday that the economy has “rebounded strongly,” based on the June GDP growth. “There is clearly a disconnect between his claims and the reality on the ground,” he said.

Solomon said the coming months will be the toughest for the B40 and M40  irrespective of whether they get to further defer their loan repayments or not.

“Until a Covid-19 vaccine is available in Malaysia and elsewhere in the world, the economy will need much time and effort to become fully resuscitated.

During this testing times, those in the B40 and M40 must be helped with direct cash assistance and other forms of aid by the government to mitigate the high costs of living and ensure they have a roof over their heads and enough food on the table,” he said

Solomon said despite the government’s repeated proclamations to help them, this marginalised groups remain in dire straits and are the most vulnerable to retrenchments and pay cuts in the current economic downturn.

“As such, it is imperative that the government is not be seen as abandoning them, especially when it is confident that an economy recovery is around the corner.

“As a nation, we must do all we can to help the blue collar workers, the self- employed, including petty traders and those in the gig economy to ensure they can sustain in this difficult times,” he said in the statement. – August 15, 2020.