MORE pandemic financial assistance, clear and well-executed policies, and less red tape are what businesses are hoping for from Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

Funds and plans that look good on paper are pointless if they are not evenly implemented, representatives said.

Malaysian Entrepreneurship Foundation chairman Nitesh Malani said there are good plans and policies but they don’t always translate into benefits for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs.

“We look at policies that have been nicely crafted but their implementation by the agencies and ministries has been  poor,” he said, citing some of the initiatives under the government’s economic stimulus packages to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 on businesses.

Some businesses did not receive assistance in a timely manner, Nitesh said.

“When it comes to basic things like the wage subsidy, and I think there have been delays of two months and more, it becomes very critical for any SME to sustain the wages of employees on a continuous basis.

“We have received multiple feedback from the ground that a lot of SMEs did not receive, till today, the funding that they were promised.”

Compounding the problem is that calls to government administrations have gone unanswered because portions of the civil service are working from home due to the pandemic, Nitesh added.

To date, Putrajaya has allocated RM530 billion through eight economic stimulus packages, of which over RM80 billion were direct fiscal injections.

According to the Finance Ministry’s kewanganrakyat portal, as at July 12, the government had disbursed a total of RM114.6 billion from the stimulus packages for business continuity and RM11.2 billion for economic resilience.

Nitesh said the number of business closures are increasing, and estimates now are between 80,000 and 100,000 businesses, compared to the more than 30,000 that closed at the beginning of the year.

Closures have mostly occurred in the hospitality, travel and tourism, F&B, service, and retail sectors.

Haphazard implementation

Nitesh added that although business groups had engaged with Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, the lack of a central decision-making body to reconcile all policies and any kinks in execution has led to more red tape.

“The assistance has been very haphazardly managed. Assistance, such as the deferment of payments, implementing agencies including the banks and Bank Negara, don’t give straight answers when people request for these incentives.

“There is no one central body that looks at all policies in a holistic way. The respective sectors end up having to go back to the relevant ministries,” he said.

SME Association vice president Chin Chee Seong lauded Ismail’s move to give cabinet ministers 100 days to show results.

“Besides that, we hope that every month the ministers provide a scorecard for us to judge what has been achieved month-to-month until the 100 days are up,” he said.

“And I hope that the PM will keep his word when he said non-performing ministers would be replaced. A non-performing minister should go off gracefully or else the PM should take the opportunity to change them,” Chin added.

More financial assistance

Business groups also said more financial aid is needed to prevent further closures and help those barely surviving to recover.

Chin said the SME Association found through a survey that 91% of SMEs have reported losses of at least 25% in their quarterly financial results.

“They need help from the government, especially on the timing of reopening. While many want the economy to re-open immediately, we have not reached herd immunity and there are worries that more delays will prevent businesses from recouping losses.”

Chin said most SMEs are in need of another round of economic assistance, especially a six-month extension of the wage subsidy programme, as their cash flow and revenue problems have worsened.

The government should also beef up its SME digitisation grant as the initial RM100 million allocated has been used up.

Like Nitesh, Chin also noted the poor implementation of some policies, such as another RM100 million grant for digitisation under the Pemulih package, which he said had not been disbursed.

“It has been allocated but the ministry agency like MDEC and those who disburse the grant are saying that the government has no money,” Chin said.

Malaysian Employers Federation president Syed Hussain Syed Husman urged Putrajaya to consider providing additional support in terms of wage subsidies, lower corporate taxes and allow a zero-interest rate loan moratorium to corporate borrowers.

Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers President Soh Tian Lai said for the government to be business-friendly, it must have policies and rules that are “simple, transparent, reliable, easy to comply with, consistent and fair, in line with the key policy principles of credibility, clarity, consistency and certainty”.

Soh said manufacturers are hoping Budget 2022 and the 12th Malaysia Plan (12 MP) will focus on improving the economic climate.

This includes facilitating business activities to generate revenue and create employment, lowering the cost of doing business, restoring the confidence level of both foreign and domestic investors, strengthening the capital market and ensuring the stability of the ringgit.

The long overdue five-year 12 MP is to be tabled on September 27, whereas Budget 2022, which will be the first supply bill under Ismail’s leadership, will be tabled on October 29.

Budget 2021, at RM322.5 billion, was the largest spending plan in Malaysia’s history. – September 4, 2021.