January 18th local time, Malaysian Prime Minister Muhidin made a national television speech, emphasizing that the current pandemic prevention control order is aimed at fighting the pandemic, protecting people’s livelihood and promoting economic recovery.
Muhidin said that the current measures taken to prevent and control the novel coronavirus have had a negative impact on the economy, especially for commercial and local small and micro enterprises.
To this end, the Malaysian government plans to implement a series of RM15 billion aid packages, and hire 3,500 additional medical staff to strengthen the fight against the pandemic.
In addition, Muhidin stressed that the Malaysian government has signed purchase contracts with three vaccine manufacturers, and the vaccination program is expected to start in March, with an estimated total cost of about 3 billion Malaysian Ringget.
He said that from 2020 to now, the Malaysian government has implemented four economic revitalization packages with a total value of RM305 billion (about RMB 488 billion), which account for 20% of its GDP.
