We refer to the Malaysiakini report RM7b stimulus to bolster economy.
CCM Youth wishes to thank the Finance Minister Najib Abdul Razak for the government's swift policy response towards providing ordinary Malaysians relief from the current global financial and economic crisis.
CCM Youth views this stimulus package positively as the measures quite specifically provide relief to targeted groups.
The voluntary 3 percent cut in EPF contribution rates to help Malaysians better manage depleting disposable income, and an additional RM1.2 billion funding for low and medium-cost housing are all steps in the right direction.
CCM Youth also lauds the government for taking additional steps to reduce duties which will help reduce input costs for the plantation, construction and property sectors.
Further foreign liberalisation of commercial real estate and extension of hours for hypermarkets should also provide a further boost to help maintain the country's economic momentum. Steps to raise transparency of government procurement and sale of government land are a victory for a nation in dire need of values and renewed faith in its government.
While CCM Youth is pleased that the government has taken into cognisance the impact of the potential downturn, we feel that more initiatives should continue to be considered for vulnerable segments of society - the pensioners and the aged, single parents, the jobless, the sick, the poor, the disabled, and children - as global conditions will remain difficult into 2009 and 2010.
CCM Youth views that the additional RM500 million for urban transportation can be better prioritised through wide-ranging and immediate measures that will equally protect the environment and use less fuel.
These include implementing new bike facilities which include safety zones, implementation of bike lanes on all highways and major roads, reduction of duties on bicycles, building bike parking areas, and creating storage facilities for foldable bikes on trains and buses.
CCM Youth, however, raises its continued concern over the RM5 billion EPF loan to Valuecap, as the promised ‘government guarantee’ becomes worthless as it does not protect investors from looming sovereign credit risks, while the utilisation of this money is not for productive purposes that can produce a desired multiplier effect on the overall economy.
We continue to ask the finance minister to exercise prudence and not to ape the expansionary ‘borrow-and-spend’ approach of the US and the UK, in efforts to lift our nation out of recession, given that we are looking at the most dangerous global economic decline just yet.
By borrowing to spend, we are postponing the inevitable, and exposing ourselves to a real risk of economic disaster.
CCM Youth will continue to uphold the government and the finance minister in our prayers and trust that the finance minister will resist the temptation of returning back to partisan politics in budget spending but bring about a renewal to the country to ensure that all Malaysians are cared for, and take the country to a new level of maturity, growth and prosperity.
The writer is Youth Moderator and exco member, Council of Churches of Malaysia.
