Full lockdown in Malaysia may cause 40% of SMEs to close down
- Claire Lee
- Topics: Home Page - News, Job Cuts, Malaysia, News
Nearly 40% of SMEs will close down business operations if the Malaysian government imposes a full lockdown on the economy, warns the SME Association of Malaysia.
“The initial report indicates that 91% of SMEs expect business revenue to be affected by Movement Control Order (MCO) 3.0, with 37.5% of these companies expecting a drop of more than 50% in business performance,” said SME Malaysia president Datuk Michael Kang in a statement.
“Should the lockdown continue, 37.7% of SMEs will close down their business operations for good,” he added.
On Saturday, the Malaysian government announced further tightening of MCO measures, which include a mandate of more employees working from home and a cap on the operating hours for businesses.
Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob outlined that 80% of all workers in the public sector and 40% of workers in the private sector will be required to work from home, which will mean 8 million less Malaysians are commuting to work each day, he said at a press conference.
READ: Malaysia’s latest MCO keeps economy open to avert unemployment
Public transport will also operate at 50% capacity, the minister added.
Laundromats, retailers in malls, restaurants offering takeaways, and petrol stations not located on highways will need to comply with operating hours of between 8am and 8pm.
