KUCHING: Sarawak’s relief may ease pressure briefly, but rising global costs still threaten businesses and households.
The Sarawak Federation of Chinese Associations president, Datuk Richard Wee, said the additional assistance from the Sarawak government is welcomed by Anak Sarawak, as the added support for SKAS recipients showed the government was concerned about the well-being and welfare of the more vulnerable sector of society.
He said this further emphasised the government’s caring and inclusive approach towards its rakyat.
“However, such initiatives would assist individuals more than the business sector,” he told Sarawak Tribune.
On the rental reduction in all government-linked agencies, he said the measure would help traders and businesses secure the temporary breather they needed to defray rising goods costs.
“However, such assistance could only be short term and should not be relied on as long-term support.”
Wee said the war in the Middle East had affected the world economy, and Sarawak was not exempt from that impact.
He said raw material costs, transport costs, energy costs and gas costs were all affecting the price of food and other essential goods.
“If the war continued without any clear visibility of an end, it would have long-term and serious repercussions for the global economy and could sink the world into recession.”
He said people must prepare themselves to face a different world in which higher food and goods costs become the norm.
“People should not be too hopeful that conditions would return to the way they were before the war disrupted the global economy.”
