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Sharing money among people, supporting salary payments and reducing electricity, water, and internet bills are popular policies in the US, Korea, Malaysia and Europe.

Covid-19 is disrupting economic activity around the globe, causing mass business closures and tens of millions of people unemployed. This is creating a huge financial burden for people around the world. A recent report by the World Bank (WB) also predicts that 11 million people in East Asia and the Pacific may be pushed into poverty because of the pandemic.

Therefore, many countries have had to launch support measures to ease financial difficulties for people. Common policies are split money, support salary and reduce electricity, water, and internet costs.

In Malaysia, starting today (April 1), the people of this country will receive a series of support. In the economic rescue package worth 250 billion ringgit (nearly US$58 billion) announced by Malaysian Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin last weekend, the government "will set aside US$10 billion for one-time payments to the people. Depending on the income level, individuals and households will receive from 500 to 1,600 ringgit. This is paid twice, in April and May.

A woman wearing a face mask buys groceries at a supermarket in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: Reuters

In addition, medical staff, police, military forces and those directly involved in the MCO campaign will also receive a special monthly allowance until the pandemic ends. The subsidy is also applied to vulnerable groups such as the elderly, children in social protection facilities, the disabled, and the homeless. Graduate students, civil servants, and ride-hailing service drivers are entitled to a one-time cash support. Patients are subsidized hospital fees. Investors in the PRS retirement savings plan can withdraw their money early with no penalty fees.

Farmers and fishermen will also be supported to ensure food supply in the country. The Malaysian government also supports 3 months salary for workers, with 600 ringgit per month to help them not to be fired by the company. However, the program only applies to people with income below 4,000 ringgit and the company experienced a revenue reduction of more than 50% in the first three months of the year.

The cost of rent, electricity, water, internet for people is also reduced. For 6 months from April, Malaysians will receive a 2% discount on their monthly electricity bill. The people of Sabah state will receive a 30% discount on electricity bills and free water bills for 3 months, starting from April. The Malaysian government will also cooperate with telecommunications carriers, providing free internet to all customers from today (April 1) until the end of the Movement Control Order (MCO) in the middle of this month. They will spend money to upgrade the system to ensure high and stable service quality.

In Sharjah - the emirate of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), King Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi earlier last week announced a 10% reduction in electricity bills in this emirate for 3 months. He said this is one of the measures taken to reduce the financial burden on people here in the fight against Covid-19. They plan to spend 230 million dirhams on this plan.

Previously,  Dubai on March 17 also announced a similar policy. Residents receive a 10% discount on electricity, water and cooling service bills for 3 months.

Hong Kong (China) is one of the earliest economies that divide money among the people. At the end of February, Hong Kong's chief financial officer Paul Chan announced a stimulus package worth HK$120 billion ($15.4 billion), aimed at revitalizing economic confidence amid political turmoil and the pandemic. Covid-19. Including a support of 10,000 Hong Kong dollars (nearly 1,300 USD) for each person aged 18 and over who permanently resides here.

And in the US, the country's officials last weekend also approved a huge stimulus package - $ 2.2 trillion. In which, about 290 billion USD will be used to pay directly to millions of people. Each person can receive up to 1,200 USD. Children get 500 USD. The level of support will gradually decrease for those earning more than $75,000 a year. Those who earn more than 99,000 USD will not receive this amount.

In addition, unemployment benefits also increase by $600 a week for up to 4 months. Unemployed self-employed workers will also be supported. Hourly workers with reduced hours will receive a wage subsidy from the government, in order to reduce the possibility of them being fired. This group of policies is expected to cost $260 billion.

The South Korean government earlier this week announced it would increase the budget to pay support for more than half of the households here, in order to ease the economic impact of the epidemic. The rescue package for 14 million low-income households is expected to be 10,300 billion won. According to the Ministry of Finance and Economy, each household of four or more people in the bottom 70 percent of income groups in the country will receive 1 million won.

Workers leave the factory of  Volkswagen in Wolfsburg (Germany) on the evening of March 19.Photo: Reuters

In many European countries, the policy of supporting wages for workers is widely applied. The UK government pays  80% of wages, up to £2,500 a month, for each worker who has to take temporary leave. This rate of the French government is 84% of salary, up to 5,330 euros per month instead of 1,219 euros as previously planned.

In the Netherlands, any company that expects a drop in revenue of at least 20% can apply for a subsidy to pay up to 90% of employees' wages for three months. The government will advance up to 80% of the requested amount.

In Spain, workers can receive  70% of the base salary as unemployment benefits, capped at 1,400 euros per month. When the temporary layoff period ends, companies must rehire all workers for at least six months. Similar policies are implemented in Scandinavian countries.

According to economic experts, this solution is not only a quick relief for enterprises and workers during a sudden recession. It also helps companies when operating return to not have to spend time recruiting and training new employees.