A TOTAL of 10,317 Malaysians have been declared bankrupt from the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020 to July 2021, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob (Bera-BN) said.

During the same period, about 1,246 businesses closed down for good due to the movement control order (MCO), Ismail said in a parliamentary written reply to Lim Lip Eng (Kepong-PH), who asked for the number of companies that have gone bankrupt and employees retrenched since last year.

Lim also asked if there is any specific government economic assistance for entrepreneurs who have shut down businesses and lost jobs due to the prolonged MCO.

Ismail said the Malaysian Insolvency Department has no record of the number of employees retrenched during the MCO period.

He said the department only acts to handle the administration of individual bankruptcy cases and the administration of companies that have obtained winding up orders from the court.

“Based on input from the Finance Ministry, the government does not provide specific assistance to traders who have shut down for good.

“Instead (the government) took the approach of providing assistance and incentives to support the continuity of their business.”

He added that in this regard, various programmes and initiatives have been implemented through the economic stimulus packages and financial assistance that have been announced with a focus on supporting businesses and protecting the people.

Among them, for business operators are special grants, wage subsidy programmes, Human Resource Development Fund (HRDF) levy exemption, loan repayment moratorium and micro credit scheme.

As for those laid off, the government offered job search allowance, loss of income assistance, skills and upgrading programmes, various government monetary aid, loan repayment moratorium, EPF withdrawals and Covid-19 special assistance. – September 27, 2021.