IPOH: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said that he is committed to reforming the country's economy to raise the living standards of the people, and the step must start with the underprivileged.
He said the targeted subsidy programme, Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (Sara), announced last week, was one of the big steps to realise the idea.
"I visited Mydin in Meru, Ipoh, today, to see for myself the awareness and impact of SARA, which is targeted to help increase the purchasing power of the underprivileged, to get basic items from a network of retail partners with more than 500 stores involved nationwide.
"May it be beneficial and improve the country's economy,” he said, in a post on Facebook today, with the hashtag #MalaysiaMADANI.
Earlier on Sunday (Jan 28), Anwar visited the 'Khidmat Demi Rakyat' cheapest sales programme, at Klebang Restu public field.
The Prime Minister then surveyed the Mydin Mall Meru Raya and the Perak Inland Revenue Board mobile counters, for checking STR (Rahmah Cash Aid) and Sara recipients.
Six days ago, Anwar announced that the implementation of Sara for this year begins, in stages, on Jan 22.
He also said that the programme had been improved, with the allocation increased more than fivefold, to RM700mil, compared with RM130mil last year. - Bernama
