KUALA LUMPUR: The government has approved additional cash relief of RM100 for Bottom 40 (B40) households and RM50 for single individuals to ease their financial burden.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said these measures were taken amid the rising cost of living and the escalating prices of goods ahead of the Hari Raya Aidiladha celebration.
He said the cash payout was on top of Phase Two of Bantuan Keluarga Malaysia (BKM) assistance, involving RM1.1 billion, where each recipient would receive RM400 according to their category of eligibility.
"Each recipient will receive RM500 based on their eligibility category. The cash aid will be paid out with Phase Two of the BKM assistance, which involves an extra allocation of RM630 million.
"The payout will benefit close to 8.6 million recipients, comprising 4 million households, as well as 1.2 million unmarried senior citizens and 3.4 million single individuals.
"They will receive the payments in stages from June 27 onwards, involving an allocation of RM1.74 billion," he said today.
Ismail Sabri said the public could check the status of the payments from June 27 at https://bkm.hasil.gov.my
The recipients will receive their cash aid, which will be credited to their bank accounts, between June 27 and July 5.
For recipients without bank accounts, the payments will be made on June 27 via Bank Simpanan Nasional branches.
Ismail Sabri said BKM was a direct cash assistance initiative announced in the 2022 Budget to benefit the B40 group.
Under BKM, 8.6 million recipients and households will receive cash aid of up to RM2,500 this year.
"This assistance is the highest amount that has been given by any government so far," he said.
On June 1, Ismail Sabri said cash aid would be given to Malaysians who will be burdened by the rising cost of living when the government removes subsidies for chickens and eggs, and in light of the price hike in food items and products.
"We will continue to ensure the wellbeing of Keluarga Malaysia, especially the targeted groups," he said.