Among those criticising are politicians from both sides of the divide and a key contention is whether the loan moratorium should be extended to the M40 group. Experts agree that not all M40 individuals are affected by the crisis, but they feel that more measures are needed to support this income group in order to boost Malaysia’s economic recovery. Speaking with StarBizWeek, AmBank Group chief economist Anthony Dass says there is a need to focus on the M40 group, given that their living costs are much higher in the urban areas. Other support measures, for M40 suggested by Dass, include e-Wallet credit and raising the discount on electricity charges which is currently given at 10%. Permatang Pasir assemblyman Muhammad Faiz Fadzil concurs that there are some measures under the Pemerkasa Plus that would benefit the M40 group.
