PETALING JAYA: The B40 income group will receive additional cash assistance under the Bantuan Keluarga Malaysia (BKM) aid to help alleviate their financial burden.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, in a special announcement, said each household receiving the BKM aid would receive RM100 while single individuals would get RM50.
The move will benefit over 8.6 million people, comprising four million households, 1.2 million senior citizens, and 3.4 million single individuals, he said.
He added that the payment would be made in four stages starting June 27.
The decision to provide the financial assistance was taken after the government took into consideration the rising cost of living including increase in food prices, he said.
“Each BKM recipient will receive up to RM500 according to their respective BKM qualification categories.
“The additional cash assistance paid together with the BKM Phase 2 payment involves an additional allocation of RM630mil,” said Ismail Sabri.
This, he said, would make the total allocation of BKM aid to RM1.74bil.
The assistance of up to RM2,500 for the B40 households announced for Budget 2022 last year was the largest incentive to date by the government, he added.
For more information and to check the application status, the public can visit https://bkm.hasil.gov.my/ from Monday.
Ismail Sabri also said that the temporary price subsidy for bottled cooking oil introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic would be discontinued from July 1.
The subsidy was for the 1kg, 2kg, 3kg and 5kg bottled cooking oil to help the rakyat facing difficulties during the pandemic.
“The government decided not to extend the subsidy for bottled cooking oil as it does not meet the initial goal of the initiative to help those affected by the pandemic.
“We also found that the assistance provided was misused by certain people including the commercial sector, industries and because of smuggling,” he said, adding that the oil subsidy cost the government RM55mil per month, which was initially slated for only three months from Aug 2021.
He, however, clarified that the subsidy for cooking oil in 1kg packets that was first announced in 2007 was still in effect.
“There was talk that the subsidy for cooking oil in packets was removed. It was not and is still subsidised,” he said.
The government has spent RM4bil in subsidies for cooking oil this year, compared to RM500mil in 2020 and RM2.2bil in 2021.
“The government subsidised 60,000 tonnes of cooking oil, which is more than the public requirement of 55,000 tonnes per month,” he added, referring to the 1kg packet cooking oil.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Get 20% OFF The Star Digital Access
Cancel anytime. Ad-free. Unlimited access with perks.
