RM20.63bil disbursed to wage subsidy initiative

Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz

KUALA LUMPUR: The government has disbursed RM20.63bil to 357,618 employers through the wage subsidy programme (PSU) up to March 18, 2022, which has helped to sustain 2.96 million local jobs in an effort to reduce the unemployment rate.

Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz said for PSU 1.0, a total of 322,177 employers and 2.64 million workers benefited from the Prihatin economic stimulus package and the National Recovery Plan (Penjana), whereby wage subsidy applications approved hit RM12.958bil up to March 18.

Under PSU 2.0, up to March 18, a total of RM1.407bil had been disbursed to 81,132 employers, helping to maintain the employment of 718,195 workers.

For PSU 3.0 up to March 18, RM3.728bil was disbursed to 162,255 employers, helping to sustain 1,525,987 jobs.

“PSU 3.0 has been improved with the Permai, Pemerkasa and Pemerkasa plus economic aid packages,” the finance minister said in the People’s Financial Report issued yesterday, Bernama reported.

Under the Pemulih plan, the government implemented PSU 4.0 with an allocation of RM3.8bil, which is expected to benefit 2.5 million workers.

Up to March 18, RM2.465bil had been disbursed to 159,326 employers to sustain their operations, helping to maintain 1,874,512 jobs. For PSU 5.0, a total of RM71.995mil had been disbursed to 3,681 employers up to March 18, helping to maintain 61,772 workers.

Meanwhile, Tengku Zafrul said 2,709 participants had been successfully placed in the public sector and government-linked companies (GLCs) through the Malaysia Short-term Employment Programme (MyStep) up to March 25, compared to 2,546 up to March 17.

Of that number, 1,833 people were placed in the public sector while 713 found jobs in GLCs and their strategic partners.

“The finance ministry has provided the MyStep portal to improve the application and hiring of workers in the public sector and GLCs. Those interested to work in the public sector or GLCs can upload their resumes through the portal,” he said.