KUALA LUMPUR: The only way to save the country's economy is to curb the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, said the Pakatan Harapan Presidential Council.

In a statement today, they said, for that purpose, the Perikatan Nasional Government (PN) led by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin needs to increase spending on screening tests, treatment, contact tracing, and COVID-19 vaccination.

According to the statement, the implementation of between 50,000 to 70,000 screening tests a day at this time, still sees a positive rate of around 6 per cent.

"The number of screening tests needs to be increased five-fold if we really want to curb this pandemic.

"To run a test on this amount for three months will cost RM2 billion, which is a small amount compared to the latest economic stimulus package, but can leave a deeper impact," they added.

The statement was signed by Parti Keadilan Rakyat President Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Parti Amanah Negara President Mohamad Sabu, and DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng.

In the meantime, they said, the failure to handle the ongoing economic crisis, will have a worse impact on the people in this country, especially the B40 and M40 groups who had fallen into the B40 category.

They said there was an urgent need to save, rebuild and reform the economy, more than the current efforts, which in their view were grossly insufficient.

“The people need to be helped and an additional stimulus package of RM45 billion is needed, which is in addition to the RM15 billion that was announced earlier this year.

"We are still waiting for Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to fulfil his promise of a monthly welfare assistance of RM1,000 which needs to be extended to the unemployed," according to the statement.

In the meantime, they said, the government should provide a subsidy for part of the cost of testing for companies on a regular basis (either once a month or every two weeks) especially for companies that employ foreign workers living in dormitories en masse.

The cost to the government for subsidising these screening tests, according to them, is certainly lower than the cost to the economy borne by companies, especially SMEs, during MCO 2.0.

“For example, the tourism industry has lost RM100 billion in revenue in 2020, and the situation is still very bad where many hotel operators and tourism operators have to close their business.

"Various other sectors from construction to retail are also affected. The wage subsidy program is very important for employers because this program helps them maintain the number of employees, while the subsidy to hire new employees needs to be increased, especially for young people who are among the most affected groups in this crisis, "said PH Presidential Council.

Regarding the education sector, they think the country will see a generation of young Malaysians who will experience reduced income and economic uncertainty due to disruptions to their learning process during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The launch of DidikTV is still not enough and is not able to replace face-to-face learning in schools.

“What is even more shocking is the announcement that schools will start opening on March 1, which has put pressure on many parents to complete school instruments, and make those who have bought laptops and tablets wonder if they can use the money they have  spent towards other things,” they added.

The policy of making such an emergency announcement, according to the Presidential Council, must be stopped, and the government must state plans to save these so-called ‘lost generation’.