Malaysian Minister of Finance Lim Guan Eng (Photo: nst.com.my) Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – Malaysian Minister of Finance Lim Guan Eng said on February 11 that the government will announce its economic stimulus package to mitigate the economic impacts of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak.
Experts said that an allocation of between 10 billion RM and 15 billion RM (2.5 billion USD and 3.8 billion USD) was needed to manage the outbreak’s impacts on the Malaysian economy.
However, Lim did not unveil the exact amount, and said his ministry was discussing with competent parties before announcing the stimulus package.
The package will be revealed by the end of this month or the start of March, he added.
The same day, the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) confirmed that 95,000 hotel bookings had been cancelled due to the virus outbreak and the travel ban imposed by China on its citizens.
Meanwhile, the Malaysian Aviation Commission cut its passenger traffic growth forecast in 2020 to 4.6-5.7 percent from 5-6 percent previously made in December last year. Malaysian is a favoured destination among Chinese tourists, with around 2-3 million visiting each year.
Eighteen Covid-19 cases have been detected in Malaysia, three of whom have recovered.
The country halted all immigration facilities in Wuhan, the heart of the coronavirus outbreak in China, and evacuated its 107 citizens from the Chinese locality./.
VNA
