KUALA LUMPUR: No recovery plan implemented by any government in the world including Malaysia can guarantee 100 per cent certainty and perfection, said Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz.
Tengku Zafrul said the recovery plans of other countries such as the UK and Singapore were also seen to be facing difficulties and had to be delayed due to the transmission of new, more life-threatening variants of Covid-19 such as the Delta variant.
He said although these countries had achieved initial success, they were now facing other challenges and experiencing increasing new daily Covid-19 cases.
He said the National Recovery Plan (NRP) implemented by Malaysia was a dynamic measure in curbing the economic and health impact caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
This, he added, was to enable the government to act agilely and quickly, to enable the country to remain relevant based on the current situation.
"Foreign countries are also reviewing their recovery plans and some of them have delayed the implementation of the plans.
"The approach taken by each country is to take into account the current situation of the Covid-19 pandemic.
"There are no issue of this recovery plan will fail or vice versa. It is how we adapt to the current situation at that time.
"If the key indicators in NRP can be achieved earlier than projected, it will enable the country to move towards the next phases quickly.
"The main focus is to achieve the target earlier, therefore it requires a commitment from all parties. Let's work together towards the same goal and make it work," he told reporters during a special joint press conference with Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Khairy Jamaluddin virtually today.
Tengku Zafrul said the NRP implemented by the government at this time was important to enable the people and businesses to make appropriate planning.
The plan details the direction and paves the way out of the Covid-19 crisis.
He said the plan gave light at the end of the tunnel to the rakyat, businesses and the government based on clear indicators.
He said all parties could together support the efforts towards the transition from one phase to the next, until the country moved out of the implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO).
Tengku Zafrul said the government understood the concerns and listened to the rakyat's grievances about survival following the implementation of MCO3.0 at the expense of families and children, the ability to pay debts and cover the cost of living including employment opportunities to generate income and a more dignified life.
Therefore, he said, for the first phase of the NRP, the government had introduced the Pemerkasa+ assistance package to alleviate the burden of the people and businesses in facing MCO 3.0.
"Apart from the assistance package that has been provided since last year, MOF is also refining and detailing additional measures as part of the government's ongoing commitment to ensure the well-being of the rakyat, business continuity and economic recovery in this challenging period.