Deputy Finance Minister Lim Hui Ying told the Dewan Rakyat today (Mar 27) that in 2024, the Government has improved on the Sumbangan Asas Ramah (Sara) contribution initiative as targeted subsidy assistance for the most affected people facing the issue of rising costs of living.
This program has been implemented in phases from January 22, 2024 to raise the economic standard of the vulnerable groups and upholding the principle of equality which is core to the MADANI Economic framework.
SARA improvements for 2024 include:
(i) First, expand the eligible beneficiaries for SARA including the poor and hardcore poor, compared the year 2023 which is only limited to the latter;
(ii) Second, increase the assistance rate for SARA households to RM1,200 compared to RM600 in 2023. Meanwhile, the rate for those single remains at RM600 ringgit; and
(iii) Third, the use of SARA programme credits are now expanded from only basic foods to three categories of basic goods, being personal hygiene items, medicine and school equipment.
“With these improvements, the SARA programme will benefit more than 700,000 people with an allocation of RM700 million compared to 2023, which is only had 210,000 recipients with a spending RM130 million, which is a five-fold increase compared to last year,” the deputy minister said.
For recipients of the SARA program in Peninsular Malaysia, assistance will be distributed monthly at a rate of RM100 ringgit per month for households and for senior citizens without a spouse. Those who are single will receive RM50.
For recipients in Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan SARA aid are paid out twice yearly which amounts to RM600 for households and senior citizens without a partner and RM300 for singles on February 19, 2024 and 12 August 2024 through crediting Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN) bank accounts or in cash at their branches nationwide.
As of March 26, 2024, a total of RM210 million ringgit had been distributed to 700,000 SARA recipients nationwide.
The government remains committed and constantly monitors the current situation to ensure that Government cash assistance continues to be channelled to the vulnerable groups.
