PETALING JAYA: Difficulties will arise for businesses if the state and Federal Government have differing policies under the conditional movement control order (MCO), says economist Emeritus Professor Datuk Dr Zakariah Abdul Rashid.
Government departments from the state and Federal Government may not run smoothly.
Interstate movements for people and goods will also cause problems for businesses if there are different sets of rules, Zakariah opined.
Resuming economic activity currently will only be solving the country’s domestic problems partially, he added.
“Both of these are important but the overriding factor should be our health and safety first, ” he said.
Even if the whole country opens up fully, things will not be able to run smoothly because Malaysia is an open economy, said Zakariah.
“We deal with the rest of the world.
“Malaysia’s major trading partners such as the United States and Europe are still under lockdown.
“Even if the country wants to export its goods, it will not be easy. The manufacturing of goods will be difficult as well because businesses will need intermediate imported inputs from those countries, ” he added.
Sunway University economics Prof Dr Yeah Kim Leng said differing policies from the federal and state governments have played out around the world as well.
States not fully following the conditional MCO, he added, are seen to be putting greater priority and emphasis on public health given the threat of the virus.
Prof Yeah believes there needs to be some flexibility to allow individual state governments to decide the best course of action as they have better knowledge of local state conditions and the risk of the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, he noted that since the MCO, the economic cost has now increased to a level that may require some relaxation to allow for a gradual restart of the economy.
“As long as businesses and the people are able to fully comply with the operating guidelines, then the economic cost will be much lower and the threat of the second or third wave of infection would be reduced, ” he said.
The government, he added, has to emphasise that it is now the individual’s responsibility in tackling the pandemic.
Asli’s Centre for Public Policy Studies (CPPS) chairman Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam said if different states have different policies, it might result in one state succeeding in curbing the virus whereas another might fail.
“The trouble here is that the virus knows no boundaries. There is no perfect solution.
“I strongly suggest the government set up an efficient monitoring system which is backed by not only government officials but also those from the ground, the businessmen and members of the public, so that there can be instantaneous feedback, ” he said.
Ramon said the nation should follow the footsteps of successful countries such as South Korea and China in combating the virus and resuming economic activity.
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