Najib: Second Stimulus Package To Be Stronger

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 5 (Bernama) -- The Government is working on the details of the second stimulus package which will be much bigger and more profound and will be announced soon, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
"We will not hesitate to take drastic, and even radical measures, if necessary," said Najib, who is also the Finance Minister.
"In protecting the economy and assisting the people, we are not adverse to seeing a higher budget deficit. The priority is to cushion the impact on the rakyat," he said in his keynote address at "The Edge-Lipper-StarMine Awards 2009 here Thursday night.
The Government is doing everything possible to reduce the burden on rakyat and the business community, he stressed.
According to reports, the second stimulus package will be announced this month or in March. The first stimulus package of RM7 billion was announced in November last year.
Najib said in addition to the fiscal stimulus, monetary policy measures have been also announced including lowering the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) by 75 basis points to 2.5 percent last month, and the reduction of Statutory Reserves Requirement (SRR) by 150 basis points to 2.0 percent effective Feb 1, he said.
There has been additional boost to the small and medium enterprises as well with the RM2 billion SME Assistance Scheme that has already been announced.
Najib also hoped that banks would not stop lending.
Looking at the investment climate, Najib said the current turmoil in the global capital market was a reminder to everyone that investing was not without its risks.
It is important therefore, that retail and professional investors be vigilant and be fully armed with the relevant information before making that crucial investment decision.
Portfolio managers must always keep abreast of developments in the fund management industry, he said.
Najib said they must be armed with analysis and critical information as the Malaysian market strived to be internationally competitive.
The ongoing global downturn has not spared anyone and the Malaysian capital market has not been spared by the dramatic falls experienced by capital markets all over the world.
But with the regulatory framework that is currently in place the local market is not adversely exposed to the many issues and scandals affecting some of the major developed markets, he added.
He said Malaysian companies in general are better positioned than those in other parts of the world as their balance sheets are strong and the country's banking system sound.
"We have learned from the 1997-1998 crisis and have put in place various check and balances," he said.
Although Bursa Malaysia Securities' market capitalisation has fallen by about 40 percent between December 2007 and December 2008, the net asset value of unit trust funds under management has fallen only 20.66 percent from RM169.4 billion to RM134.4 billion, he pointed out.
At the same time, the unit trust industry registered an increase in the number of funds available to investors to 557 from 495 funds, he said.
The number of unitholders' account for the period increased to 13.05 million from 12.27 million, and monthly net sale in 2008 averaged RM1.7 billion per month.
This was attributed among others to prudent investment practices coupled with diversification of investment in various asset classes, companies and across different countries which have mitigated a sharper fall in value.

tunku : definitely malaysia need bigger and stronger stimulus package this time to stimulate the economy well. everyone should join hand and make sure that it will work.the delivery system should be monitored 24/7. the banks must not hesitate in giving loans.every project should be closely monitored.