Extend loan moratorium to at least June: Matta

Kuala Lumpur: Ahead of the tabling of the national Budget 2021 in Parliament, the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) suggested the Government to extend the moratorium to at least June 2021.

Matta President Datuk Tan Kok Liang (pic) said as the tourism industry has been crippled and unable to repay loans, many businesses and individuals would suffer and probably be declared bankrupt without a moratorium extension.

“The Government has to make firm decisions and instruct the banks and other finance and leasing companies to extend the moratorium period to help the economy as a whole.

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“The current measures rolled out to provide temporary relief such as the Penjana Tourism Financing (PTF) and related facilities are not effective as prudent SMEs (Small and medium-sized enterprises) are cautious on future repayments during this period of uncertainty,” he said.

As for an effective wage subsidy programme, Tan said Matta also had an agreement with the Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) on a proposed two-tiered wage subsidy system, similar to the system used in Singapore, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom.

He said the tiered system specifically called on the government to provide a 50 per cent subsidy for employees earning up to RM4,000 and 30 per cent for those between  RM4,001 to RM8,000, adding that the wage subsidy program should extend until at least to June 2021.

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Besides that, Matta’s Budget 2021 wish list included sufficient funding for tourism businesses to invest in digitalisation and for the Government to support local online platforms instead of relying on foreign platforms.

“As the national tourism association, we ask for a special grant of RM20 million to further enhance the Matta online platform and e-hailing platform for the marketplace,” he added.

Matta also recommended the international borders to be gradually reopened in the first quarter of 2021 starting with Asean countries to help sustain Malaysia’s tourism industry, as what many other countries were now doing.