KUALA LUMPUR, March 3 — The eradication of poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, apart from the existing poverty should be the first agenda or solution that the government needs to achieve in the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) and 13MP, to realise the Shared Prosperity Vision 2030 (WKB 2030).

Dewan Negara People’s Well-being Caucus Committee chairman Senator Datuk Razali Idris said he took the situation seriously as part of the T20 group became M40 group, while part of the M40 became the B40, apart from the B40 which continued to get poorer.

"As a result of the commitment of the people became heavier due to the significant decline in the economy, while some no longer have a source of income and facing depleting cash flow and others are unable to cash out their physical assets to sustain the family’s economic burden,” he said in a statement, today.

Therefore, he said the programme planned through WKB 2030 in the 12MP and 13MP should be targeted at vulnerable groups severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to him, the People’s Well-being Caucus has expressed high hopes the Perikatan Nasional government could realise the economic map of WKB 2030 as an agenda that leads to effective economic recovery for the country’s long-term plans.

Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in the Malaysia Prihatin keynote address on Monday (March 1) said the Economic Action Council meeting he chaired was informed that the number of people falling into poverty as a result of Covid-19 had increased and the government was working to resolve the issue. — Bernama