Tengku Zafrul presents last LAKSANA report for the year

The report, first presented nine months ago on April 14, 2020, laid out the details on the implementation of the Prihatin Rakyat Economic Stimulus Packgage (PRIHATIN), National Economic Recovery Plan (PENJANA) and Kita Prihatin Economic Stimulus Package (KITA PRIHATIN).

In his presentation today, Tengku Zafrul said RM12.608 billion of wage subsidies have been approved as of Dec 11, 2020 under the PENJANA initiative on 'Empowering the People'.

As of Sept 30, 2020, which was the closing date for PSU 1.0, he said over 322,177 employers and 2.64 million employees, had received PSU under PRIHATIN and PENJANA.

On the Hiring Incentive Programme and Training Assistance, he said a total of 106,443 employees had managed to secure jobs through this programme as of Dec 11.

“This number includes 85,242 workers under the age of 40; 13,513 individuals in the age group of 40-60; as well as 6,420 apprentices and 1,268 persons with disabilities. Manufacturing, as well as wholesale and retail trade were among the main industries and sectors which actively hired workers,” he said,

Under the Reskilling and Upskilling Programme, Tengku Zafrul said a total of 129,144 individuals had been approved to participate in the programmes provided as of Dec 11.

“LAKSANA found that courses involving entrepreneurial knowledge received the highest response, including how to trade online and compete internationally,” he said.

On PENJANA's objective of ‘Propelling Businesses’, he said the PENJANA SME Financing, as of Dec 11 has approved 5,576 SME applications with a financing value of RM1.097 billion out of the RM2 billion allocated under the programme.

He said the PENJANA Tourism Financing, which had an allocation of RM1 billion for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the sector affected by COVID-19, had received 537 SMEs applications, out of which 245 had been approved with a total funding of RM49.9 million.

On the TEKUN Business Recovery Scheme, especially for micro-SMEs, as of Dec 11, a total of RM99.2 million had been channelled under TBRS to 14,861 micro-SMEs.

As for the PENJANA Micro-Credit Financing under Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN), he said as of Dec 11, a total of RM253.1 million had been provided to 7,252 micro-SMEs in the retail and services sectors.

On the Bumiputera Relief Financing (BRF), introduced by Perbadanan Usahawan Nasional Bhd (PUNB), he said a RM200 million special fund was allocated for Bumiputera SMEs affected by COVID-19.

With financing of between RM100,000 and RM1 million for the SMEs involved, he said the fund has been granted to 160 SMEs involving a total of RM40.8 million as of Dec 11.

As for PENJANA's third objective on 'Stimulating the Economy', Tengku Zafrul said the initiative to support the agriculture and food industries has benefitted 6,094 agricultural micro SMEs with a value of RM60.9 million in total as of Dec 11.

Out of the allocation of RM400 million, RM350 million comprised allocation under the Agrobank Micro-Credit Financing.

On the service tax exemption for hotels to support the tourism sector, he said the exemption is extended to services by accommodation operators between Sept 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021.

"As of Dec 11, the value of the tax exemption that had been utilised by these operators was RM836.6 million. Among other initiatives to support the tourism sector include the individual income tax relief of up to RM1,000 on travel expenses, as well as a full tourism tax exemption," Tengku Zafrul said.

On the 100 per cent export duty exemption to the commodity sector, which involves palm oil-based industry, he said the value of export duty exemption utilised by the national industry was RM373 million as of Dec 11.