KOTA KINABALU – Entrepreneurs in the state can now heave a sigh of relief following the announcement of the Wage Subsidy Programme 2.0 under the Prihatin Supplementary Initiative Package (Kita Prihatin) yesterday.
A managing director of a halal food company, Datin Rozilah Abdullah said the government’s decision to continue with the wage subsidy programme was crucial in helping the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) operators to ensure the sustainability of their businesses.
She said the wage incentive helped in easing the company’s burden to pay for the employees’ salary as well as in boosting the company’s business.
“This is a good programme and can contribute to the sustainability of the business in the face of a challenging economic situation due to the spread of COVID-19,” she told Bernama here Sept 23.
She said the government’s move to continue with the programme could help SME entrepreneurs to keep them afloat which would stimulate a holistic economic recovery.
Fadzrul Dullie, whose company is also the recipient of the financial assistance said entrepreneurs need various government’s assistance to help them face the sluggish economy, adding that the government’s move to extend the Wage Subsidy Programme was much awaited.
He said with such incentives more SME entrepreneurs were able to remain competitive which could remedy the economy by stages.
“Entrepreneurs might move their businesses to more viable places. I myself might go to Singapore if there is no such incentives…if this happened it would be detrimental to the economic recovery,” he said while expressing his gratitude to the government for extending the wage subsidy programme.
Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin earlier on Wednesday, had announced several supplementary initiatives under the supplementary initiative package in a bid to recover the economy.
The government has allocated RM2.4 billion for the Wage Subsidy Programme 2.0 for companies that still face lower revenues of at least 30 per cent compared to last year.
Muhyiddin said the subsidy would be given for up to three months at a rate of RM600 per month for each employee, with a maximum of 200 employees for per company.
— BERNAMA
