KUALA LUMPUR: More than 14.6 million Malaysians have benefited from the Budi Madani RON95 (Budi95) targeted fuel subsidy mechanism as of Feb 11, underscoring the effectiveness of the government’s MyKad-based subsidy rationalisation framework, Parliament was told Thursday (Feb 12).
Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan said the system processes an average of 3.1 million transactions daily without disruption, adding that the high utilisation rate demonstrates that the MyKad mechanism is accessible, stable and well accepted by the rakyat.
"As of Feb 11 2026, more than 14.6 million Malaysians have benefited from subsidised RON95 under the Budi95 initiative.
"This effectiveness is further reinforced by the implementation of Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (Sara) 2025, which recorded a 99% utilisation rate via MyKad.
"This confirms that the MyKad-based approach is user-friendly and does not require additional applications," he said in reply to a supplementary question from Jimmy Puah Wee Tse (PH-Tebrau) during the Minister's Question Time.
Puah had asked the Finance Ministry to explain one of the fiscal reforms considered successful, namely subsidy rationalisation, which is also a key focus of the broader fiscal reform agenda and has been effectively implemented through BUDI95, launched in October 2025.
He also requested the Minister to elaborate on the government’s plans to replicate the success of the Budi95 subsidy targeting mechanism to other goods such as cooking oil and sugar.
Moving forward, the government, the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry, is studying the application of MyKad for the Cooking Oil Price Stabilisation Scheme (Coss), said Amir Hamzah.
"Further assessment is being undertaken to expand the use of the existing MyKad-based ecosystem, including integration with the Sara system, to strengthen identity verification in monitoring the sale of subsidised cooking oil," he said.
This approach, he added, leverages existing infrastructure without introducing additional burdens on the rakyat, while ensuring that only eligible Malaysian citizens benefit from subsidies.
"The Finance Ministry will continue to work closely with KPDN under a whole-of-nation approach to strengthen subsidy system integrity and curb leakages in a coordinated manner
"The government will continue to refine and assess the prudent expansion of MyKad usage in the future, alongside strengthening enforcement to ensure leakages are minimised and subsidies are delivered efficiently, fairly and accurately to targeted groups," added Amir Hamzah.
On Feb 11, The Budi95 targeted subsidy is projected to generate savings of up to RM2.5bil in 2026, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The Prime Minister said the projected savings would stem from curbing leakages associated with blanket fuel subsidies while maintaining price stability for the majority of Malaysians.
