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Enhancing the Danajamin guarantee scheme (RM 50 Billion)

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Enhancing the Danajamin guarantee scheme (RM 50 Billion)

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Introduced : Feb 11, 2021

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Expediting the implementation of micro-credit scheme (RM 500 Million)

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Expediting the implementation of micro-credit scheme (RM 500 Million)

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Introduced : March 25, 2021

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Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has announced RM40 billion in economic aid as the nation ticks towards a national lockdown that begins at midnight tonight.

In a televised announcement tonight, Muhyiddin said the Pemerkasa Plus programme includes RM5 billion direct fiscal injection from the federal government.

He said Pemerkasa Plus has three main thrusts, namely: boosting public healthcare capacity, preserving the people's welfare, and ensuring the sustainability of businesses.

"I wish to be frank that the government has very limited fiscal space to spend at this time.

"However, cogniscient of the people's welfare, the government will do its best to ensure a balance between lives and livelihood including opportunities for you to make a living for your beloved family throughout the movement control order," he said.

Muhyiddin said today's announcement is on top of previously announced stimulus packages totaling over RM100 billion, which are still being implemented.

Among the salient points from his speech are as follows:
Boosting public healthcare capacity

RM450 million to increase hospital beds and procure equipment for intensive care units, including at teaching hospitals of public universities at military field hospitals.

RM550 million for spending related to Covid-19 including increased operating and management expenses, procurement of medicines and reagents, and appointment of contract officers.

Extend the service of 14,000 contract medical officers and nurses until 2022, and appoint 500 healthcare workers who are due for mandatory retirement this year on a contract basis.

Expedite the Covid-19 immunisation programme - states with high population density (Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Johor, and Penang) are due for completion in October, while the rests would finish by the end of the year.

Government vehicles such as buses, vans, and pool vehicles will be mobilised to help senior citizens and those living far from vaccine administration centres get vaccinated.

Continuing the 'Prihatin Rakyat' agenda

RM2.1 billion for additional payments under the Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat programme - RM500 for households earning less than RM2,500, RM300 for households earning between RM2,501 and RM5,000, and RM100 for unmarried people. Money will be remitted at the end of June.

Choice of a three-month loan moratorium or six months of 50 percent reduced loan repayments, for those in the B40 group, those who lost work, and small-and-medium enterprises that can't operate during the MCO. Details will be announced tomorrow.

RM1 billion bus and taxi rehabilitation scheme will be launched this week for eligible bus and taxi operators to extend their loan moratorium up to 12 months and extend their loan up to 36 months.

The federal government will fork out RM1.5 billion to extending Social Security Organisation's (Socso) wage subsidy programme by one month in all economic sectors, for up to 500 workers per application.

Companies registered under the Human Resource Development Corporation will be exempted from paying the levy for the month of June.

Free upskilling for workers through over 400 modules and courses available online under the e-Latih portal.

Ensuring business sustainability

Prihatin Special Grant increased by RM500 to RM1,500. Of this, RM1,000 will be paid in mid-June, and RM500 will be paid in July.

Low-interest microcredit loans from BSN, Tekun, Mara, SME Corp and Yapeim totalling RM1.5 billion for traders and micro-entrepreneurs, with an interest rate of three percent.

Additional RM2 billion for Bank Negara's Targeted Relief and Recovery Facility on top of the RM5 billion still available, which would offer loans to small-and-medium enterprises at 3.5 percent interest rate.

RM68 million to provide one-off RM500 special assistance for 17,000 tour guides, 40,000 taxi drivers, 11,000 school bus drivers, 4,000 tour bus drivers, 62,000 rental car and e-hailing drivers. Registered recipients would be paid in July.

Inland Revenue Board to consider appeals on tax penalties and postpone payment of penalties to 2022. Affected taxpayers and businesses may also get a new repayment schedule for outstanding taxes.

Deadline for submission of financial statements to the Companies Commission and for listed companies to hold annual general meetings for listed companies will be extended.

Companies Commission will waive penalties for late renewal of business licences for micro-businesses, sole-proprietorships, and partnerships, up to Dec 31.

Protection for companies unable to fulfil their contractual obligations will be extended under the Temporary Measures for Reducing the Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) Act 2020 until Dec 31. The government will continue to offer free mediation services through the Covid Mediation Centre.

Hotel operators, tour agencies, shopping complexes, convention centres, theme parks, and local airline offices will a 10 percent discount on their electricity bills from July to September.

Building and business premise owners who reduce the rental rate for their business premises by 30 percent for six months up to Dec 31 will get a tax discount.

Exemptions for tourism tax and service tax for hotel stays extended until Dec 31.

Stamp duty exemption under last year's Home Ownership Campaign extended until Dec 31. It was due to expire today.

Sales tax exemption for CKD, imported CBU passenger vehicles extended from July 1 to Dec 31.

The lockdown starting at midnight is the start of three phases of Covid-19 control measures, the first of which is a total lockdown expected to last two weeks.
Only certain businesses deemed "essential services" will be allowed to operate during this period.

In the following four weeks after that, some businesses where there are no large gatherings and can maintain physical distancing will be allowed to reopen.

Finally, most businesses will be allowed to reopen during the third phase, which would be akin to the previous MCO.

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PM announces RM40b 'Pemerkasa Plus' aid as lockdown looms

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Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has announced RM40 billion in economic aid as the nation ticks towards a national lockdown that begins at midnight tonight. In a televised announcement tonight, Muhyiddin said the Pemerkasa Plus programme includes RM5 billion direct fiscal injection from the federal government.

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Introduced : March 17, 2021

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Another RM700mil boost for SMEs | New Straits Times

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KUALA LUMPUR: Bank Negara Malaysia has announced an additional allocation of RM700 million for small and medium enterprises (SME) under Automation and Digitalisation Facility (ADF), bringing the facility's total size to RM1 billion.

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Introduced : March 17, 2021

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RM700mil allocation to extend Wage Subsidy Programme 3.0 [NSTTV] | New Straits Times

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KUALA LUMPUR: The government will allocate RM700 million to extend the Wage Subsidy Programme 3.0 for another three months on a targeted basis, following the implementation of the Strategic Programme to Empower the People and Economy (Pemerkasa).

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PERMAI ASSISTANCE PACKAGE ( RM15 BILLION )

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PERMAI ASSISTANCE PACKAGE ( RM15 BILLION )

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Introduced : Feb 18, 2021

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In early January 2021, Malaysia launched the PERMAI stimulus package to support businesses.

Valued at 15 billion ringgit (US$3.6 billion), the incentives under PERMAI pertain to the enhancement of incentives issued throughout 2020, such as the wage subsidy program.

The issuance of PERMAI comes as the country enters into another lockdown, set to last until February 18, 2021.

On January 18, 2021, Malaysia's government launched the Malaysian Economic and Rakyat's Protection Assistance Package (PERMAI), a stimulus package valued at 15 billion ringgit (US$3.6 billion) aimed at providing vital support to businesses through various incentives in addition to strengthening the country's welfare programs.

The issuance of PERMAI comes after the government reimposed the movement control order (MCO) on Jan 13 to curb the rising number of COVID-19 cases. The MCO will be in effect until February 18, 2021.

Malaysia has issued a number of stimulus packages throughout 2020 as the country battled the economic impact caused by the pandemic. The stimulus package issued prior to PERMAI was PENJANA, issued June 9, 2020, and was valued at US$8.1 billion. The largest stimulus package was issued in March 2020, valued at US$57 billion or 17 percent of Malaysia's GDP.

PENJANA provided new tax incentives to attract foreign companies to relocate their operations to Malaysia. This included a zero percent tax rate for 10 years for companies in the manufacturing sector with investments in fixed assets between 300 million ringgit (US$70 million) and 500 million ringgit (US$116 million).

In addition, businesses in the export of commodities (palm oil, crude palm kernel oil, and refined bleached deodorized palm kernel oil) were eligible for 100 percent export duty exemption until December 3, 2020.

Support for businesses

Under this objective, PERMAI provides a variety of initiatives and incentives to help businesses in the country. These are the following:

Enhancement of wage subsidy program

The government will enhance the wage subsidy program whereby employers currently operating in states under the MCO will be eligible to apply for a one-month subsidy of 600 ringgit (US$147) for each employee earning less than 4,000 ringgit (US$980) per month, of up to 500 employees. Previously, the wage subsidy scheme was limited to 200 employees per company.

Special grant for SMEs

The government has prepared a special grant for some 500,000 SMEs currently under MCO with payment of 1,000 ringgit (US$245) each. Further, SMEs that are not under MCO (approximately 300,000 businesses) will receive 500 ringgit (US$122) each. This program was previously available to traders and hawkers in the state of Sabah.

Expediting the implementation of micro-credit scheme

To assist micro-enterprises, the government will expedite the implementation of a micro-credit scheme valued at 1 billion ringgit (US$245 million). This scheme was initially issued under previous stimulus packages although the budget allocated for the program was half, at 500 million ringgit (US$122 million).

Extending measures for contractual obligations

In 2020, the Temporary Measures for Reducing the Impact of COVID-19 Act 2020, or Act 829, was enacted to provide businesses an extended timeline to perform their contractual obligations, until December 31, 2020. Under PERMAI, this has now been extended to March 31, 2020.

Enhancing the Danajamin guarantee scheme

In mid-2020, the government introduced Danajamin Guarantee Scheme (SPGS), a 50 billion ringgit (US$12.2 billion) financial guarantee scheme to help large companies obtain working capital with an emphasis on long-term financing.

Under this scheme, there is a guarantee coverage of 400 million ringgit (US$98 million) or 80 percent of the minimum guaranteed loan size of 20 million ringgit (US$4.9 million). The tenure of DPGS is up to five years.

The government will increase the maximum financing for this scheme from 500 million ringgit (US$122 million) to 1 billion ringgit (US$245 million). Moreover, the amended scheme will expand the scope of financing to cover working capital, with a guarantee period of up to 10 years, and allowing foreign-owned companies operating in Malaysia to be able to access this scheme. Foreign companies are only eligible if 75 percent of their workforce is Malaysian employees.

Supporting online businesses

To continue support for businesses in generating income through e-commerce platforms, the government has allocated 300 million ringgit (US$73 million) to provide micro-entrepreneurs with training with the digitalization of their business as well as on-boarding to e-commerce platforms.

Rescheduling the moratorium for MARA repayments

Businesses that took loans from TEKUN Nasional, Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) as well as other cooperatives and Government agencies providing financing facilities, will be given a moratorium until March 31, 2020.

In addition, MARA has provided a 30 percent discount on rent for business premises for six months starting November 2020 until April 2021.

Extension of sales tax exemption on passenger vehicles

Under the PENJANA package, locally assembled passenger vehicles were eligible for 100 percent sales tax exemption and 50 percent sales tax exemption for imported passenger vehicles, effective from June 15, 2020, to December 31, 2020.

PERMAI has extended the above exemption until June 30, 2021.

Extension of personal income tax relief on the purchase of cell phones, computers, and tablets

PENJANA also provided individual income tax relief of up to 2,500 ringgit (US$616) for the purchase of cell phones, computers, and tablets made from June 1, 2020, to December 31, 2020.

This has been extended under PERMAI until December 31, 2021.

Special tax deductions for landlords

Landlords that can offer a reduction in rent rates on the business premises to SMEs will receive a 30 percent tax deduction from the original rental rate from April 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021. This special deduction will also be expanded to non-SMEs.

Continued discounts for electricity

From January to March 2021, businesses in the six following sectors will receive a 10 percent discount on electricity bills. These sectors are:

Hotel operators;

Theme parks;

Convention centers;

Shopping malls;

Local airline offices; and

Travel and tour agencies.

Bus and taxi hire purchase rehabilitation scheme

The government will introduce a bus and taxi hire purchase rehabilitation scheme, which will provide a 50 percent guarantee on financing for hire and leasing companies for selected bus and taxi operators.
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How Malaysia's PERMAI Stimulus Package Benefits Businesses

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In early January 2021, Malaysia launched the PERMAI stimulus package to support businesses. Valued at 15 billion ringgit (US$3.6 billion), the incentives under PERMAI pertain to the enhancement of incentives issued throughout 2020, such as the wage subsidy program. The issuance of PERMAI comes as the country enters into another lockdown, set to last until February 18, 2021.

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Suspension of tax audit and tax investigations 

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Suspension of tax audit and tax investigations 

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Tax Incentive for Manufacturers of Pharmaceutical Products including  Vaccines   

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Tax Incentive for Manufacturers of Pharmaceutical Products including  Vaccines   

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Extension of Tax Incentive for Manufacturers of Industrialised Building Systems(IBS) Components

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Extension of Tax Incentive for Manufacturers of Industrialised Building Systems(IBS) Components

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Tax Incentive for Global Trading Center 

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Tax Incentive for Global Trading Center 

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Extension of Tax Incentive for Export of Private Healthcare Services

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Extension of Tax Incentive for Export of Private Healthcare Services

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Help to sustain individuals and business

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Help to sustain individuals and business

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Cushioning the immediate impact of this pandemic on business and individual 

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Cushioning the immediate impact of this pandemic on business and individual 

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Help to employer who affect loss their revenue

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Help to employer who affect loss their revenue

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Help business in short term stability to ensure them have sufficient cash flow

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Help business in short term stability to ensure them have sufficient cash flow