KUALA LUMPUR, March 30 — The recently unveiled Prihatin Rakyat Economic Stimulus Package (Prihatin) can help alleviate the burden of the people and businesses, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in countering the Covid-19 impact.

Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah said the RM600 million allocation for free internet service would help the telecommunications and multimedia industry as a whole.

He said the additional allocation of RM400 million to increase network coverage and capacity to maintain high availability and quality of telecommunications and multimedia networks will certainly assist in the development of the country’s digital economy sector.

"This is based on the expectation that the digital economy will continue to be one of the largest contributors to the country’s gross domestic product,” he said in a statement.

Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, on March 27, unveiled the Prihatin package worth RM250 billion to protect the welfare of the people and support businesses, including SMEs, to blunt the Covid-19 impact.

Saifuddin said the Prihatin package was in line with the ministry’s call to micro-enterprises and SMEs to switch to digital platforms to ensure business continuity during the movement control order (MCO) due to Covid-19.

Meanwhile, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) chief executive officer Surina Shukri said the third thrust, which provides RM500 million in grants under the Micro-Credit Scheme to help micro-entrepreneurs, including the creative industry and online traders, will further accelerate growth in both MDEC’s main focused areas.

She also welcomed the RM500 one-off assistance to 120,000 e-hailing drivers with an allocation of RM60 million, as it will provide more opportunities for workers in gig economy, who are now feeling the economic impact on their income. — Bernama