A view of Kuala Lumpur capital city of Malaysia (Photo: New Straits Times) Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – The Malaysian government has allowed traders to hold unlimited cheap sales in a bid to fuel consumer spending, thereby boosting the country's economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the New Straits Times, traders in Malaysia were previously allowed to organise cheap sales four times a year, thrice stipulated by the government and another period and date chosen by business operators.
The government’s new initiative now enables them to hold unlimited cheap sales without quotas.
Professor Dr Yeah Kim Leng from the Sunway University Business School of Economics said such a move could spur growth and improve the country's economy, noting that the normalisation of consumer spending is crucial to the country's sustained economic recovery.
It is especially important during the current COVID-19-induced downturn in reviving the domestic economy, especially in the affected industries such as hospitality, restaurant, food, retail and tourism that sustain the livelihood of a large number of employees and small businesses, according to him.
Echoing Yeah, Bank Islam chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said consumer spending had always been the major driver for growth, which accounted for more than 50 percent of the Malaysian economy, and its boom could be seen from May when restrictions were relaxed and the economy was reopened.
The government's move to allow cheap sales should help to steer consumer spending more steadily, he added.
Like many other countries, the Malaysian economy has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the past months, the country’s government has issued several stimulus packages to help the domestic economy weather difficulties./.
VNA
