Reversing the decline among M40

PETALING JAYA: More than 600, 000 households from the middle 40% (M40) income group have slipped into the bottom 40% (B40) category as the Covid-19 crisis delivered a major blow on Malaysians’ income level, according to the Economic Action Council (EAC) secretariat.

Against the country’s 7.28 million households, as reported by the Statistics Department for the year 2019, this represents at least 8% of households that have seen incomes drop below the B40 income maximum threshold of RM4, 850 a month.