-The Star filepic
PETALING JAYA: Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (Sara) cash aid of RM100 will continue to be provided to 22 million Malaysians aged 18 and above in 2026, says Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The Prime Minister said the one-off case aid will be disbursed in mid-February 2026 to help with preparations for Ramadan and the Chinese New Year celebrations," he said when tabling Budget 2026 on Friday (Oct 10).
The Tambun MP also said the Rahmah Cash Aid (STR) and Sara for 2026 amounted to RM15bil.
"This increase is made possible through savings achieved from the targeted subsidy rationalisation for diesel and RON95 petrol," he added.
Anwar said there were some who viewed economic programmes through a racial lens.
"It is therefore appropriate to clarify the various assistance initiatives under the Rahmah Cash Aid (STR); Sara; Credit Guarantee Corporation Scheme for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (SJKP), and the Government Guarantee Scheme (SJPP)," he added.
Under the STR and Sara programmes, Anwar said assistance to the Malay community has increased to RM7.1bil in 2025 from RM4.5bil in 2022.
"For bumiputra communities in Sabah and Sarawak, allocations have risen from RM1.1bil to RM1.9bil; while assistance to the Indian community has increased from RM600mil to RM1bil.
Through the Credit Guarantee Corporation Scheme for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (SJKP), Anwar said the government's housing loan guarantees have also risen substantially to RM12.3bil across 2023 and 2024 when compared to RM2bil in 2022 for the bumiputra community.
"For the Indian community, this has increased from RM200 mil to RM1.9bil. Additionally, the Indian community continues to benefit from socio-economic programmes under the Malaysian Indian Transformation Unit (Mitra), the Small Entrepreneur Financing Scheme (Tekun), and Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM), with a combined allocation of RM220mil.
"Meanwhile, under the Government Guarantee Scheme (SJPP), the government's business loan guarantees have also grown.
"For Chinese small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the guarantees amounted to RM11.9bil in 2022, RM13.4bil in 2023, and RM13.9bil in 2024 which represented more than 75% of the total SJPP guarantees," he said.
For the people living in rural and interior areas of Sabah and Sarawak, Anwar said RM250mil has been allocated to cover the cost of distributing essential goods to remote locations such as Taradas, Kudat and Kawayoi, Kinabatangan in Sabah.
The allocation also covers Entaroh, Kapit and Nanga Segeris, Sibu in Sarawak.
