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PETALING JAYA: The government has been praised for introducing a Wage Subsidy Programme (WSP) that is clearer where payment goes to the employers instead of the employees.
This is a great move to alleviate the cash-flow of the employers during this critical time, Knight Frank Malaysia Managing Director Sarkunan Subramaniam said today.
However, whether the requirement for businesses to still demonstrate that they have a reduction in income of at least 50% was not further clarified, he pointed out.
“In fact, as the amount given is not significant comparatively, it is impractical to keep this requirement as by the time the companies can prove that they are making losses of at least 50%, they are already in a bad shape and may be closing down,” he said in a statement.
“The WSP initiative should not be restricted only to SMEs as well. It should be opened to all Malaysian companies. A fresh and clearer guideline is needed for this subsidy.”
In welcoming the third stimulus package worth RM10 billion rolled out to mitigate the severe social and economic impacts arising from the Covid-19 pandemic and the on-going movement control order (MCO), he pointed out that the allocation for the WSP has been increased by RM7.9 billion to RM13.8 billion.
Knight Frank LLP is a leading independent global property consultancy.
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