KUALA LUMPUR, Mar 5 — The government is gathering more accurate data for better estimation of Malaysians affected by the Covid-19 pandemic in its effort to overcome the problem of poverty.

Economic Action Council (EAC) executive director Prof Tan Sri Noor Azlan Ghazali said the Department of Statistics Malaysia and the Social Welfare and Implementation Coordination Unit of the Prime Minister’s Department were working together to get the exact data which was expected to be known soon.

"It is time for the government to re-look into this matter and assistance should be more targeted.  By knowing the details including income, job sectors and nature of jobs, the government will be able to focus on targeted groups only,” he said when contacted by Bernama today.

Noor Azlan who is also an economist said that in the meantime, the government is conducting many upskilling and reskilling programmes under the Human Resources Development Fund to assist Malaysians affected by the pandemic, including focusing on workforce marketability and job matching.

Noor Azlan also said that it is important for poverty to be defined and classified properly as transitory or permanent poverty.

"For example, there was a large drop in cabin crew income due to the impact of the pandemic on the aviation industry, but if this group of people resume working later, then they should not be in the permanent poverty group,” he said.

On March 1, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in his One-Year Malaysia Prihatin Keynote Address said reports showed that more people had fallen into poverty due to the impact of the pandemic. — Bernama