The government introduced several new initiatives to help the public weather the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, worth a total of RM10 bil via the Kita Prihatin package.
It is an additional stimulus to the previous government initiatives such as the RM35 bil Pelan Jana Semula Ekonomi Negara and the RM260 bil Prihatin package earlier in March.
Out of the RM10 bil, the Kita Prihatin package comprise three main segments, namely RM7 bil for Bantuan Prihatin Nasional 2.0 (BPN2.0), RM2.4 bil for Wage Subsidies 2.0 (WS2.0) and RM600,000 for Geran Khas PRIHATIN 2.0 (GKP2.0).
To break it down, the BPN2.0 cash handouts is targeted to low-income (B40) and middle-income (M40) groups. RM1,000 will be given out to a total of 3.7 million B40 households (RM3.7 bil), RM500 for 3.8 million B40 single individuals (RM1.9 bil), RM600 for 1.4 million M40 households (RM800 mil) and RM300 for 1.7 million M40 single individuals (RM500 mil).
These 10.6 million recipients have already received a total of RM11.2 bil under BPN2.0 payments will be made in two tranches on Oct 2020 and Jan 2021.
Meanwhile, RM2.4 bil will be allocated for WS2.0, targeted for 1.3 mil employees of companies experiencing 30% year-on-year (y-o-y) revenue drop since the start of the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) from June 10 to Dec 31, 2020.
Applications for WS2.0 will be opened from Oct 1 to Dec 31, 2020 and the RM600 wage subsidy to be given to a maximum of 200 employees (per company) on a monthly basis, for a period of three months once the applications are approved.
This is an addition and continuation to the earlier RM15.3 bil allocation for six month of wage subsidies for the approved applicants that were made between Apr 1 and Sept 30, 2020. As of Sept 11 2020, a total of RM10.4 bil has been disbursed to 321,000 employers, benefitting 2.63 mil workers.
Meanwhile, the RM600 mil for GKP2.0 will be disbursed through a special grant of RM3,000 per company to 200,000 micro enterprises.
Applications for the grant will be opened from Oct 1 to 31, 2020, with the first disbursement to made from Nov 25, 2020.
This is considered the ‘re-opening’ of the GKP1.0 where a total of RM2.1 bil was allocated for a target of 700,000 recipients, of which RM1.63 bil was disbursed to 545,000 micro enterprises. – Sept 24, 2020
