MORE than 15 million Malaysians have spent over RM1.34bil through the one-off Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (Sara) cash aid between Aug 31 and Oct 6.
The Finance Ministry said this figure represents about 71% of the 22 million Malaysians eligible for the assistance, which was introduced to help citizens cope with rising living costs.
According to the ministry, Sara’s rollout has been supported by significant improvements in the government’s digital payment infrastructure – enabling faster and more secure transactions.
“The Sara payment system can handle almost 2,700 transactions per minute compared with only 540 per minute in April this year.
“The processing capacity for user queries has also been enhanced from 5,000 to 15,000 queries per minute,” the ministry said in a written parliamentary reply yesterday.
The ministry added that a large number of the 100,000 items eligible for purchase under both the Sara and Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah programmes are produced by local micro, small and medium enterprises.
“The situation will be continuously monitored to ensure that government aid programmes reach those who need them and continue to effectively manage the cost of living,” it said.
The reply was issued in response to a question from Khoo Poay Tiong (PH-Kota Melaka), who asked about issues faced by retailers and the public during the implementation of the RM100 one-off Sara aid, as well as measures to ensure a smoother rollout.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had earlier announced the one-off distribution to all Malaysian adults aged 18 and above in conjunction with National Day 2025 celebrations.
The initiative was part of the government’s broader effort to provide immediate financial relief while promoting digital inclusivity through the use of the MyKad system.
The Sara cash assistance, credited directly into recipients’ MyKad, can be used to purchase necessities across 14 product categories, including rice, cooking oil, flour and household essentials, at more than 4,100 participating premises nationwide.
The government has pledged to continue monitoring the programme, taking into account user feedback to refine the system.
