Country can recover from economic losses, but lives cannot be replaced: Experts

PETALING JAYA: The people’s health should take precedence over the economic well-being of the country in the Covid-19 war, but there are ways to moderate the pain, according to two economists theSun spoke to.

Universiti Utara Malaysia professor of economics Dr K. Kuperan Viswanathan said the country can recover from economic losses, but lives cannot be replaced.

“It would be naive to put the economy before the health of the people,” he said.

Kuperan pointed out that whenever the government imposes a movement control order (MCO), the main objective is to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

“We do not want to end up like India, where (the healthcare system) has run out of nearly everything and the people are not getting the help they need,” he said.

“We may complain about the hardship caused by the lack of economic activity during the MCO, but we need to understand that health and lives come first, not economic activity,” he added.

Kuperan said the people have no choice but to dig deep into their savings to survive the lockdown.

He said money can always be earned and savings replenished once the pandemic has passed and economic activity picks up while life returns to normal.

In the meantime, he said, the government should take proactive measures by providing aid to help those who are most severely affected by the MCO and curbs on business activities.

“Data shows that the number of Covid-19 infections continues to rise. The government needs to act fast to protect the people,” he said.

Kuperan conceded that a lockdown could strangle the economy, “but at least lives will be saved”.

He said that for now, the government should set aside any plans to resume economic activity on a wider scale, and focus on tackling the Covid-19 problem. “We can always work on rebuilding the economy at a later stage,” he said.

Sunway University Business School professor of economics Dr Yeah Kim Leng said the extent of the impact on the economy depends on the conditions stipulated in the MCO.

“If the manufacturing sector is allowed to continue operating, the economic impact will not be so bad,” he said.

However, he said, the sectors that will likely take a big hit are retail, hospitality, tourism and related sectors.

He said the government should consider the work-from-home rule for those whose responsibilities do not require them to be in the office.

“The faster we stop the spread of the virus, the earlier we can return to some kind of normalcy,” he said.

Yeah said steps must be taken to prevent crowds from gathering to curb the spread of the Covid-19 virus.

“As long as there is no nationwide lockdown our economy will not take such a big hit. However, we may not be able to hit our economic growth target because of the MCO,” he said.

There is a need to ensure sectors such as manufacturing and agricultural are allowed to continue operating so that the potential for economic growth, however small, is not impeded, he said.

“We need to speed up the vaccination rate to protect not only the people but also the economy.”

Yeah said the MCO is essential to prevent the country’s healthcare system from being overwhelmed by Covid-19 patients.