Government's Response Timely In Reducing People's Burden, Says Analyst

PENANG, Nov 12 (Bernama) -- The government's response to the global financial crisis is timely in reducing the burden on the people, according to an economic analyst at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM).
Professor Amir Baharuddin said the economy stimulus package of RM7 billion announced recently by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who is also the Finance Minister, would help many poor Malaysians and also reinforce the private sector's confidence.
He said the stimulus package showed that the government was concerned with the well-being of the country's economy and this boosted confidence among the private sector.
"I believe the Malaysian economy will not fall into recession because our economic fundamentals are still strong and the government has taken early measures to cushion the impact of the world economic meltdown," Amir said when contacted by Bernama.
He cited the example of the RM1.2 billion allocation to build 25,000 units of low and medium-cost houses which was the government's initiative to ensure that more Malaysians, especially those in the lower income group, could own a house.
"Normally, during an economic slowdown, not many in the private sector would dare to venture into building low-cost houses as it would not be profitable to them," Amir said.
"The government has taken the initiative to provide more opportunities for the low income group to have their own houses," he said.
Amir also praised the government's move to lower the petrol price according to the market price to ease the burden on the people, especially those with vehicles.
He said this was also supported by the RM500 million allocation to improve the country's public transport system.
"However, this might not happen overnight and it takes good planning to transform the public transport system into a better one," he added.

tunku : the announcement of the stimulus package alone is not enough to reduce the burden of the people. government must ensure that all the implementation is done fast and fairly. the distribution should be fair.right now we can see the distribution is not fair, only certain people getting the jobs.they must correct this first.we hope the government will pull out from the economic downturn this time.