Malaysian Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, has announced a stimulus package worth MYR 10 billion for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia to soften the impact from the movement control order (MCO) that took place since 18th of March.
This is an additional economic stimulus package on top of the previously launched package valued at RM250billion.
Most businesses are closed during the movement control order in Malaysia
The wage subsidy highlights are as follows:
The government will increase the wage subsidy of RM600 monthly for employers.
For companies that employ more than 200 people, the number of eligible employees have been increased to 200 from 100 previously.
For companies that employ between 76-200 employees, the company will receive a wage subsidy of RM800 for each worker.
For companies that employ between 1-76 employees, the company will receive a wage subsidy of RM1,200 for each worker.
The caveat to the above is that employers must retain their staff for at least 6 months.
The Prime Minister's full speech.
Other benefits for businesses:
The Government will provide a special grant of RM3,000 to each company, which is expected to benefit nearly 700,000 micro SMEs nationwide. All companies must be registered with the Inland Revenue Board to receive this.
The government will be abolishing the 2% interest rate for the RM500mil Micro Credit Scheme under Bank Simpanan Nasional.
The micro loan scheme for micro businesses extended to Tekun Nasional with a maximum loan limit of RM10,000 per company at no interest.
The government has agreed to encourage negotiations between employers and employees on the terms of their employment, including the option to deduct salaries, and to allow unpaid leave during the MCO.
The government has granted an automatic moratorium of 30 days to allow companies to submit statutory documents to the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) from the last date of the MCO.
The filing of the companies financial statements have also been extended for three months from the last date of the MCO. This flexibility is given to companies with financial years ending Sept 30 until Dec 31. Companies will have to apply for this flexibility from SSM and no late charges will be charged.
Reducing Rental for businesses:
The government has appealed to owners of private premises to reduce rental rates for to SMEs during the MCO and three months after it ends.
They will be given additional tax deductions equal to the amount of rent reduction from April to June. This is subject to the condition that they reduce the rental by at least 30% during that period.
Stay updated with more details of the economic stimulus package to be announced soon here.
