Malaysia’s Ismail Sabri Yaakob unveils more handouts for low-income families as Najib, Anwar take aim at rising prices
- The funds will be disbursed along with 1.11 billion ringgit in cash payments to be handed out in the second of four tranches of direct aid budgeted for this year
- Surprise announcement came after opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim threatened a mass demonstration if nothing was done to address rising inflation within 24 hours
Malaysia on Wednesday allocated an additional 630 million ringgit (US$143 million) to help low-income families weather the rising costs of living, ahead of a planned removal of subsidies on poultry and eggs slated to come into force in July.
The funds will be disbursed along with 1.11 billion ringgit in cash payments to be handed out in the second of four tranches of direct aid budgeted for this year.
The government had earlier announced it would give out a total of 8.2 billion ringgit in cash help when tabling its 2022 budget in October.
In a televised media briefing, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the payments under the second tranche are expected to reach 8.6 million Malaysians – a quarter of the nation’s population.
“This aid is the highest so far that has been given by any Malaysian government,” said Ismail Sabri, who has faced pressure to call for early polls since taking over the top job last August.
The new allocation translates to an additional 100 ringgit in payments to households on top of a 400 ringgit handout already in the pipeline. Meanwhile, single people will receive an extra 50 ringgit.
The funds will be credited into recipients’ bank accounts starting from Monday.