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PM announces RM40b aid package for MCO 3, but just RM5b in spending

File photo showing Muhyiddin speaking at the Covid-19 Pandemic Challenge Special Talk Program broadcast from Angkasapuri on May 23. — Bernama file photo

KUALA LUMPUR (May 31): Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced tonight an additional RM40 billion worth of aid to help stem the fallout of a strict lockdown, of which RM5 billion will be in direct fiscal injection.

The relief package, dubbed Pemerkasa Plus, will beef up the healthcare system, continue previous welfare programmes and help businesses weather the lockdown, as he vowed to “balance lives and livelihood”.

Among other spending measures he unveiled was an additional RM1 billion in healthcare spending, extending wage subsidies for another month and the loan moratorium given since last year when the country was put under the first movement control order.

“I have to be frank, the government has very narrow fiscal space to spend, but we will try our best to balance lives and livelihood,” he said in a special address broadcast on national television. — Malay Mail

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